


Finding Forever

by Hawkerin, TheDoctorMulder



Series: Forever [1]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Episode AU: s02e13 Doomsday, Epsiode Fix-it: s02e13 Doomsday, F/M, Season/Series 03, Series 3 with Rose
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-20
Updated: 2015-12-30
Packaged: 2018-04-10 06:13:17
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 42
Words: 136,962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4380326
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hawkerin/pseuds/Hawkerin, https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheDoctorMulder/pseuds/TheDoctorMulder
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>At the very last moment, Rose found another handhold to save herself from falling into the Void.  Can she and the Doctor manage to live the forever that she promised?  A series three rewrite, coauthored by Hawkerin and TheDoctorMulder.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Doomsday

**Author's Note:**

> We both wanted to do a season 3 with Rose, and, after bouncing a few ideas back and forth, decided that we were just going to do it together. We hope you like it!
> 
> This isn't going to be your usual rewrite. Warning to Martha lovers. She's not coming with. We love Martha, mostly, so won't bash her, we promise.

"What're you-" she said as the thing went over her neck and she felt her stomach lurch.

The room suddenly became darker, with wires hanging from the ceiling. It took a moment for Rose to realize what had happened. She was in the other universe, without the Doctor. That bastard had sent her away for her "own good" again! Not two days before, she had promised that she would stay by his side forever, and damn it if she was going to let him make her break her promise.

"Oh no, you don't. He's not doing that to me again," she growled as she looked at the ugly yellow thing in her hands, trying to figure it out. She realized that the yellow part was a button. She smacked it roughly and said, "I think this is the on switch." The room lurched again, turning back to bright white.

She turned around to see the Doctor standing there, looking shocked. He stormed over to her and grabbed her shoulders roughly.

"Once the breach collapses, that's it. You will never be able to see her again. Your own mother!" he shouted as he shook her fearfully and gazed into her eyes.

If she wanted to get him to understand that she knew what she was doing, she needed to stay calm. "I made my choice a long time ago, and I'm never going to leave you," she insisted as evenly as she could. "So what can I do to help?" she asked.

The Doctor looked shocked. Did he not believe her promise of forever? He really thought she could be happy in another world without him? Rose saw that he was starting to see just how serious she was, and in his eyes was a glimmer of acceptance and joy at her loyalty.

Dimly, in the background, she heard the computer announce that the system had been rebooted. That seemed to be the call to action for the Doctor.

"Those coordinates over there, set them all at six. And hurry up," he ordered, nearly shouting. She didn't take it personally, as he had a habit of shouting whenever he was stressed.

She ran over to the computer terminal and took off her universe jumper thingy, before he could pull _that_ trick again, and did as he asked. On a computer, she saw surveillance video of Cybermen coming up the stairs toward them.

"We've got Cybermen on the way up," she informed the Doctor, who stopped what he was doing and came over behind her to look at the monitor.

"How many floors down?" he asked as he headed over.

"Just the one," she replied.

They watched as one of the Cybermen stood in front of the others and halted them. They couldn't hear what was said, but it was clear that someone had been strong willed enough to fight the control of conversion. Taking advantage of the extra time allotted them, they got back to work on their plan.

The oh-so-helpful computer proclaimed that the levers were operational, and the Doctor smiled.

"That's more like it. Bit of a smile. The old team," she encouraged, happy to see his grin again.

"Hope and Glory, Mutt and Jeff, Shiver and Shake," the Doctor babbled.

Shiver and Shake? Was he calling her an elephant? Maybe not. Maybe she could be the ghost instead. "Which one's Shiver?" she asked.

"Oh, I'm Shake," the Doctor replied as he handed her a magna clamp. Good, she was the ghost. Wait, did she want to be the ghost?

They each went to different sides of the room and put their clamps on the wall, Rose, not knowing how they were actually supposed to work, just mimicked the Doctor's actions. She looked over at him unsurely.

"Press the red button," he instructed.

She looked back at the machine in her hands and found the red button. Upon pressing it, she realized that she no longer had to hold it in place.

"When it starts, just hold on tight. Shouldn't be too bad for us, but the Daleks and the Cybermen are steeped in Void stuff," he told her. "Are you ready?" he asked.

Rose nodded in reply. Then she saw them, a few Daleks gathered outside of the window threateningly. "So are they," she warned and he followed her gaze.

"Let's do it!" he called. The pair went to the levers and pushed them up into the on position, then ran back to the clamps before the suction could really start.

"The breach is open! Into the Void! Ha!" the Doctor shouted joyously as the first Daleks smashed through the window, then a mix of Daleks and Cybermen came flying by.

One of the Daleks hit Rose's lever with a glancing blow, causing it to spark and come unlocked.

The computer took that opportunity to mockingly announce that the system was now offline. They couldn't allow the suction to stop now. Who knew how many Cybermen and Daleks would be left to roam?

Rose tried to reach the lever from her position, but it was too far away. She reluctantly let go of her clamp and grabbed the lever, yelling, "I've got to get it upright!"

She tried to pull the lever upright from the side she was on, but the suction of the Void was still too strong and kept making her push the lever instead. She wound up being pulled to the other side of the lever, where she finally found a bit of purchase to push the lever back into the 'on' position. As soon as the lever was locked in place, the infuriatingly calm computer informed her of what she could already feel; that the machine was working again. The suction picked up, and Rose could feel herself lifting off of the ground, against gravity.

"Rose!" the Doctor yelled, clearly terrified of what might happen to her. "Hold on!"

She tried to do just that. She was adamant that she wouldn't let go, no matter what he said. But her fingers started slipping. The Doctor's eyes were wide with fear as he saw the slip and shouted at her to hold on again, louder this time.

Her fingers slid from the lever, first one hand, then the other slowly gave way to the suction. She was going to fall into the Void. When she was down to two fingers, she turned all of her attention to the Doctor, who watched with wide eyes, breathing heavily as he reached toward her.

_I'm sorry_ , she thought as her last finger slipped and she sped towards the Void. She threw out her arms frantically as she was sucked toward the Void, desperate for anything to grab on to, when her fingers struck something solid and she instinctively grasped it with all her might. She immediately reached out with her other hand to hold more securely onto the odd, diagonally placed bar that came out of the floor. The suction pulled her towards the centre of the wall.

Rose's hold started slipping again. She couldn't seem to get a proper grasp with her right hand for some reason, so she kicked with all her might, trying to get one of her legs to hook onto the next bar for more purchase. Somehow, she managed to get one foot around the bar, and used it to drag her other leg to the same bar. She held onto both bars for dear life, literally.

When she finally looked back towards the Doctor, she saw sheer terror in his eyes. It was clear that he felt that she ought to have died during this little stunt. He was still breathing heavily, one arm reaching towards her, as if he could strengthen her hold by sheer will alone.

She felt the pull lessen as the opening between the universes started to collapse into itself. The collapse took only a second, but it felt longer to Rose. As soon as it was over, her whole body dropped to the floor, now being pulled by normal Earth gravity.

In an instant, she found herself in the Doctor's arms as he checked her over for injuries. She couldn't help but scream as a piercing pain shot through her hand when he touched it. How did she not feel that before?

"Adrenaline," the Doctor mumbled. Did she ask that out loud?

"Is it broken?" she asked him worriedly.

"Yeah," the Doctor affirmed. "I'm afraid so. But we'll have you fixed up in a jiffy, once we get back to the TARDIS," he added with slightly more cheer.

Rose turned and looked at the wall that had been the focus of the last few minutes, knowing that it would now separate her forever from her mother, Mickey, and her would-have-been father. She walked to the wall, holding her broken hand gingerly against her chest and put her good hand on the cool, white surface.

"Have a good life, Mum," she whispered, as if her mother could hear. Maybe she could.

She hadn't noticed the Doctor following her, but suddenly felt his hand on her shoulder with a supportive squeeze. Tears dripped down her cheeks against her will.

"I'm sorry, Rose," the Doctor whispered, not daring to disturb her.

Rose sniffed and dashed the tears off of her face with the back of her hand. "It isn't your fault, Doctor. I made my choice, yeah? And it'll always be you."

They made their way back to the TARDIS in the basement of Torchwood, so that the Doctor could treat Rose's hand and they could leave before the authorities arrived. The Doctor and Rose found their beloved ship far from the spot it had been left. Apparently, a few of the items in the room had been through the Void as well, and had smashed into it, making it slide across the room. It left a scraped trail on the floor in its wake. A pile of some of those items lay in front of the doors of the TARDIS, and the Doctor pushed them back enough so that they wouldn't just fall in when he opened the door.

He pulled one thing out from the items and stuck it in his pocket, muttering about how the humans didn't need that before he entered the ship, Rose following silently.

Once inside, the pair made a beeline for the infirmary, where the Doctor found the necessary equipment to heal her fractured hand. Rose hopped up onto one of the beds and waited for him.

"Is there any way to contact her, Doctor?" she asked quietly as he worked on her hand. "Just to let her know I'm alright?"

The Doctor thought for a moment, then replied, "I don't think so. I'll check with the TARDIS and see if there are any cracks left. We would have to seal them as quickly as possible, though."

This gave her hope that she could say a proper goodbye to her mother. A large part of her was ashamed at how she left her without a word, but there hadn't been time for that. If she had waited another moment, she might not have been able to come back at all.

"Before we go contacting your mother, this hand needs to finish healing," the Doctor said. "I don't want her clawing her way through to slap me when she sees that," he teased, trying to lighten the melancholy mood that had been haunting them.

Two days later, Rose sat in the jumpseat in the console room, watching the Doctor typing away at the monitor. The circular lines and dots that made up the written form of his language moved faster than she could believe that he could see, but then again, she'd watched him read through books in her language at astonishing speeds. Suddenly, the Doctor stopped, spun around, and smiled at Rose.

""It'll work, Rose," he let her know. "There's a way to get enough power to talk to her, rather than just send a message."

"Thank you." she jumped up and wrapped her arms around the Doctor's neck in a hug, which he reciprocated.

"So, how do we do this?" Rose wondered a minute later when she finally let go of the Doctor.

"Um, welll," he began, scratching the back of his neck as if he was nervous.

"Well, what?" Rose asked. If he was nervous about it, maybe they shouldn't do this?

"Well, it's just a little thing, really," the Doctor started. "Just a tiny little thing, but the connection between mother and daughter is the only way I can be sure that we'll be able to contact her."

"Yeah, so?" she prompted. Rose hadn't figured out what he was going on about yet.

"I know you don't like people messing about with your mind, and I wouldn't ask this of you if I didn't-"

"Oh," Rose realized. He needed to make telepathic contact with her.

"I'll just need to barely skim the surface of your mind," he replied, apologetically. "I won't look at anything deeper, just the surface thoughts you are having at that moment. And if there's anything you really, really don't want me to see, you can just imagine a door in front of it, and I won't look," he babbled rapidly.

"Okay," Rose replied simply.

"And you'll just need to- wait, did you say okay?" he asked, stunned.

"Yeah," she affirmed. "I trust you, Doctor. You just asked. My problem is things messin' about with my mind without askin'."

"Oh," he replied, flustered. "Okay then. There's one other thing we'll need to do to get the power we need," he informed her.

"What's tha'?" she wondered after he paused.

"We're gonna cause a sun to supernova," he rapidly said, with a glimmer of excitement in his eyes.

"We're gonna what?" she queried, stunned. Maybe she didn't hear that right.

"We are going to burn up a star," he repeated at a slower, less manic pace.

"We can do tha'?" Rose asked, stunned.

"Oh, yes," he answered, proudly.

"But what about-" she started, but was cut off by the Doctor.

"There's no life on the one planet that orbits it," he assured her. "And the star is nearing the end of its life cycle. There never will be any life. It's nowhere near any other system that it could affect. I've already thought about all of that, Rose."

"Sorry for questio-," Rose said.

"Don't be," he rudely interrupted again. "If you hadn't questioned that, I'd have worried about you. I know you'd never want any damage done." He then switched back to his explanation. "Okay, I have the TARDIS set up to telepathically contact your mother and set this sun off, all we have to do is press a few buttons," he told her. "Welll, that and get to the sun in the first place. Hold on!"

Rose grabbed the nearest surface and held on as the Doctor pulled them out of the Vortex. When the shaking stopped, the scanner showed a small star outside of the TARDIS. The Doctor came around to her, nervous again, and Rose wondered why he seemed that way. Did he have something else he needed to do that she might not like?

"Okay, last chance to back out," he let her know.

"Not likely," she replied. She was nervous about him going into her head, he'd never done it before. She did have telepathic experience, though. The Timeship she called home was telepathic, and she'd occasionally talk to her. The TARDIS wouldn't properly talk back, but she could let her opinions be known with lights, feelings, and the rare image.

The Doctor hesitantly held his hands out to her head, his long fingers slowly moved towards her temples, and he closed his eyes when he physically made contact with her. She watched his face as this happened. He appeared to be serene, almost happy.

"Okay, think of your Mum," he instructed her. "Think of something from your childhood. Happy times. Talking to her on the phone. Think of anything to help you make contact."

_Think happy thoughts_ , she thought, and the image of Wendy came into her head for a moment. The Doctor smiled, and then said out loud, "Sorry, about that, that was me, carry on."

This was an odd experience. She had to keep from thinking wayward thoughts, something that was damned near impossible with her Time Lord so close.

His breath hitched. "Rose, close your eyes, it might help you to concentrate better," he ordered, strained.

She immediately did so. She summoned as many good thoughts about her mother as she could. Her Mum whistling while doing laundry; conversations when they were younger about her dad; fixing scraped knees. As she had gotten older, they became more like friends than anything. Her memories turned to fangirling about that cute Scottish actor's bum and talking about clothes and shoes and whatnot.

Suddenly, the console dinged, and the Doctor pulled back quickly.

"That's all I need," he informed her. "You did great. Now we just need to wait."

Rose sat back down and watched him back at the console. He wasn't paying any attention to her anymore, and she worried about what would happen later. Why couldn't she have just shut her eyes from the start? Not that she needed to look at him to feel the attraction between them.

After what felt like an eternity, the console gave another ding. The Doctor immediately went to look at the monitor and turned to Rose.

"She's near the gap," he said. He grabbed her hand and positioned her near the console with her face toward the wall. "Ready?" he asked.

"No, but let's do this anyway," she replied.

The Doctor hit one last button on the console, and the whole ship shuddered violently. He had just blown up the sun they had been orbiting, the TARDIS soaking up the energy.

As soon as the ship stabilized, Rose straightened herself back up, and an image showed up around her, as if she were standing in some virtual reality program. She saw her mother running towards her through the holographic image the TARDIS displayed. She seemed to be on a beach somewhere.

"Rose! Sweetheart, is it really you?" Jackie cried.

"Yeah, Mum. Well, it's… it's a hologram, I suppose," Rose answered as she tried to calm her racing heart. This was probably the last time that she would ever speak with her mother and she didn't want to waste it with tears.

"Well, where are you then?" Jackie whined.

"Inside the TARDIS. We can't get through to you, Mum," Rose explained, and suddenly the Doctor was beside her.

"There's one tiny little gap in the Universe left, just about to close, and it takes a lot of power to send this projection. We're in orbit around a super nova. Burning up a sun just to say goodbye," the Doctor explained.

"You mean, I'll never get to see my daughter again, Doctor?" Jackie asked as her eyes filled with tears.

"I'm sorry, Jackie," he whispered in reply, regret clear in his eyes.

"You'll be alright, Mum. You've got Pete and Mickey there with ya," Rose said, trying to cheer her up a little. "And I'll be fine with the Doctor, yeah?"

"There'll be four of us soon. I'm pregnant," Jackie admitted and wiped a few of the tears away that had escaped her eyes.

"Oh Mum, that's wonderful! More Tylers on the way," Rose responded with a genuine smile.

"But what are you gonna do, Rose?" Jackie questioned, seemingly worried that the Doctor might abandon her the way he did Sarah Jane.

"I told you, Mum, I'm staying with the Doctor. I made my choice a long time ago and we'll just keep travelling," Rose replied as she took his hand next to her.

"I promise, I won't abandon her, Jackie. She is welcome to stay with me for as long as she wants to," the Doctor added.

"You take good care of her, Doctor. Or so help me, I'll find my own way back and slap you into your next face," she scolded with false bravado.

"Time's almost up," the Doctor whispered to Rose.

"Oh god. Umm… I love you, Mum," Rose said, flustered by the time ticking away from them.

"I love you too, sweetheart. You take care of yourself," Jackie replied.

Suddenly, the image around Rose faded, leaving only the coral and hexagon shaped things in her field of vision. She turned around and the Doctor gathered her up in his arms, to let her cry. She felt the hum of the TARDIS in her mind trying to soothe her as well.

XxXxXxXx

On a beach in another universe, Jackie Tyler broke down crying. Her new husband and old friend came running to support her through the difficult time.

XxXxXxXx

The Doctor held Rose until her sobs died down, running his hand along her back in circles. She wouldn't know it, but through his motions, he was writing in his language how much she meant to him.

When she pulled back, her mascara was running everywhere. She sniffed once, then zeroed in on a spot on his jacket.

"I'm sorry," she apologized and wiped at the dark patch.

He looked down, and saw that there was a smudge of her mascara. Her wiping had actually made it bigger. When she noticed it, she stopped.

"Hey now," he said in his best calming voice, "that's fine. I can get that out in a jiffy." He reached up and wiped a tear off her face.

"I'm, just…" she trailed off and pointed towards the corridor.

"Yeah," he acknowledged with a nod of reassurance.

As soon as she left, he pulled out his sonic and set it to take care of the mascara. As soon as he was finished, he put it back in his pocket and went to the monitor, trying to decide where to take Rose to get her mind off things.

Suddenly, there was a flash of light. He looked up, and there was a woman standing there, facing the doors.

"What?"

The woman turned around at his exclamation. "Oh!" she squeaked.

"What?" he repeated, a hair louder this time. Where the hell had this woman come from?

"Who are you?" she demanded.

"But-" he started, confused.

"Where am I, eh?" The woman, a ginger he noticed, demanded of him.

"What?" He was shocked. This couldn't be possible. Nothing could get in here!

"What the hell is this place?" she thundered.

"What?!" he shouted.

Rose reappeared in the doorway, having heard the noise and asked, "What's going on?"


	2. Runaway Bride: Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The plan right now is to post on Sundays and Wednesdays. It should give us enough time to keep up... I think.

Runaway Bride

 

Rose finished fixing up her makeup and walked back towards the console room. On the way there, she heard a woman shouting, and the Doctor kept saying “What?” over and over again. She hurried to her destination to find the Doctor and a woman in- a wedding dress? What the hell was a woman doing in the console room with a wedding dress o n? Th ey were still in deep space!

 

“What's going on?” she asked.

 

“What? You can't do that. I wasn't. We're in flight. That is, that is physically impossible! How did-” the Doctor stuttered in disbelief.

 

“Doctor, where did she come from?” Rose asked incredulously.

 

“Tell me where I am. I demand you tell me right now.  Where am I?” the woman shouted angrily.

 

“Inside the TARDIS,” the Doctor said distractedly as he checked the computer for some sign of how this strange woman might have gotten into his ship.

 

“The what?” she demanded. She had her eyes narrowed and her head cocked, like she was trying to hear better.

 

“The TARDIS,” he repeated.

 

“The what?” she insisted.

 

“Look, hang on a minute,” Rose interrupted.  “What’s your name?”

 

The ginger looked at her in confusion, as if she hadn’t even noticed that there was anyone else in the room before. “D-Donna,” she muttered.

 

“Right.  Donna, my name’s Rose and this is the Doctor.  This place is called the TARDIS,” Rose explained calmly.  This woman seemed likely do some damage if they didn’t ease her temper a little.

 

“How did you get in here?”  t he Doctor asked rudely.

 

“Doctor!” Rose admonished. 

 

“Well, obviously, when you kidnapped me. Who was it? Who's paying you? Is it Nerys? Oh my God, she's finally got me back. This has got Nerys written all over it,” Donna shouted, seeming happy to get back to arguing with someone.

 

“What’s a Nerys?” Rose asked.

 

“Who the hell is Nerys?” the Doctor questioned at the same time.

 

“Your best friend,” Donna replied, as if that should be obvious. 

 

“We don’t know anyone named Nerys,” Rose denied.

 

“Hold on, wait a minute. What are you dressed like that for?” the Doctor  queried as he took in her attire.

 

“She’s in a wedding dress, Doctor,” Rose informed him with a roll of her eyes.

 

“I'm going ten pin bowling. Why do you think, Dumbo? I was halfway up the aisle! I've been waiting all my life for this. I was just seconds away, and then you, I don't know, you drugged me or something!” Donna shouted.

 

“I haven't done anything!” he argued.

 

“Neither of us have any clue how you came to be here,” Rose gently told the woman. 

 

“I'm having the police on you! Me and my husband, as soon as he is my husband, we're going to sue the living backside off ya both!” she shouted, pointing her finger at the Doctor at first, then at Rose by the time she finished. 

 

The loud ginger ran towards the doors of the TARDIS in an attempt to escape the people she thought had captured her.  She flung the doors open as soon as she’d reached them.

 

“No, wait a minute. Wait a minute. Don't!” The Doctor yelled. Rose ran to catch up to her before she could open the doors and fall out into space, but she was too slow.

 

Outside, there was the remains of the supernova they had been circling, as well as a colourful nebula.  Donna stood in the doorway, slack-jawed.

 

“You're in space. Outer space, to be exact,” Rose informed her when she caught up. She looked outside at the lovely sight and then back to Donna. “I know, it’s a bit much, just take a moment and enjoy the beauty.”

 

“This is my spaceship. It's called the TARDIS,” the Doctor told her softly when he came up to them. 

 

“How am I breathing?” Donna asked quietly, seeming to realize that her angry shouting wasn’t going to get her back home any time soon.

 

“The  TARDIS is protecting us,” the Doctor let her know. 

 

“Who are you, really?” Donna questioned.

 

“I'm the Doctor, this is Rose,” he introduced himself and his companion.

 

“You said your name was Donna?  Are you from Earth?” Rose asked her.

 

“Yeah. Is that optional?” Donna replied, still awestruck by the view outside.

 

“Well, it is for me,” the Doctor responded, sounding the tiniest bit amused. 

 

“You're an alien?”  she asked, eyes wide.

 

“Yeah, I am” The Doctor nodded.

 

“What about you, Blondie?” Donna asked with a glance at Rose.

 

“Nah, I’m human.  I come from London,” she replied.

 

“It's freezing with these doors open,” Donna said, suddenly changing the subject from the strange discussion of aliens and other planets.

 

The Doctor reached out and closed both doors, slamming the second one shut. He stomped back up to the console, and Rose knew his patience had started to wear thin with this mystery. 

 

“I don't understand that and I understand everything,” the Doctor announced. “This-this can't happen! There is no way a human being can lock itself onto the  TARDIS and transport itself inside. It must be-” He paused and grabbed some sort of eye device from a spot under the console. Rose didn’t remember what it was called, but had seen doctors use it on her during her checkups as a child. 

 

“Impossible,” the Doctor continued babbling. “Some sort of subatomic connection? Something in the temporal field? Maybe something pulling you into alignment with the Chronon shell. Maybe something macro mining your DNA within the interior matrix. Maybe a genetic-”

 

Donna seemed to have had enough of him and slapped him right across the face.  Rose winced in sympathy, but probably would have done the same thing in her place.

 

“Doctor, maybe it would be best-” Rose began to suggest.

 

“Get me to the church!” Donna shouted suddenly.

 

“Right! Fine! We don't want you here anyway! Where is this wedding?” the Doctor asked, eager to leave her somewhere she couldn’t shout at him or slap him anymore.

 

“Saint Mary's, Hayden Road, Chiswick, London, England, Earth, the Solar System!” Donna rapidly shouted every possible location she knew. 

 

“Right, Chiswick,” the Doctor muttered as he started running around the console, flying the ship to her destination. 

 

Upon opening the doors, they didn’t seem to be in Chiswick.  This looked far too metropolitan for that.

 

“I said, ‘Saint Mary's.’ What sort of Martian are you? Where's this?” Donna fumed, looking out the doors at the unfamiliar location. 

 

“Doctor, is something wrong with the TARDIS?” Rose asked.  Her singing seemed unusual.

 

“Yeah, it's like she's-” he began. 

 

Donna ran outside of the TARDIS, and Rose saw her leave. She went after Donna and saw the woman making the traditional circuit of the blue box. She’d only seen this a couple times before, people’s reaction to finding out that the TARDIS was bigger on the inside. It was always amusing.

 

“Recalibrating! She's digesting. What is it? What have you eaten? What's wrong? Donna? You've really got to think. Is there anything that might've caused this?” the Doctor babbled as he checked the TARDIS computer for any malfunction.  “Anything you might've done? Any sort of alien contacts? I can't let you go wandering off. What if you're dangerous. I mean, have you, have you seen lights in the sky, or did you touch something like something, something different, something strange? Or something made out of a, box of metal or ...who 're you getting married to? Are you sure he's human? He's not a bit overweight with a zip around his forehead, is he? Donna!”

 

The Doctor looked around the console room to find it suspiciously empty.  “Rose?”

 

Outside, Donna had started freaking out over the ship’s dimensional transcendence. 

 

“But, but,” she started. “No, no, no, no, no,” she denied its existence, then started to walk away.

 

“Donna,” Rose called to her calmly.

 

“Leave me alone. I just want to get married,” Donna replied, trying to shake off the strange experience and get back to normal life.

 

“Come back to the TARDIS.  We can help, Donna, I swear,” Rose told her gently.

 

“No way. That box is too weird,” she argued.

 

Just then, the Doctor stepped out of the TARDIS to see the two women arguing over whether or not to get back in the box.

 

“It's bigger on the inside, that's all,” the Doctor replied cluelessly.

 

“Oh! That's all? Ten past three. I'm going to miss it,” Donna said impatiently as she looked around for a taxi.

 

“You can phone them. Tell them where you are,” he suggested. 

 

“How do I do that?” she wondered.

 

“Haven't you got a mobile?” he asked.

 

Donna stared at him like he was the biggest idiot ever. “I'm in my wedding dress. It doesn't have pockets. Who has pockets? Have you ever seen a bride with pockets? When I went to my fitting at Chez Alison, the one thing I forgot to say is give me pockets!” She swung her arms around animatedly as she snarked at the Doctor and  ended her speech with a stomped foot. 

 

“You can use mine.  Here,” Rose told her as she handed her mobile to the distraught bride and smacked the Doctor on the arm for being insensitive.

 

“This man you're marrying. What's his name?” the Doctor wondered curiously.

 

“Lance,” Donna replied with a dreamy smile and a faraway look.

 

“Good luck, Lance,” the Doctor mumbled.

 

“Doctor!” Rose gasped.  That was rude, even for him.

 

“Oi! No stupid Martian is going to stop me from getting married. To hell with you!” Donna shouted and stormed away in a flurry of white satin.

 

“I'm, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not from Mars,” the Doctor responded weakly to her retreating back.

 

“I’ll go after her,” Rose sighed.

 

Rose followed Donna, who had her cell phone, as the woman called whoever she was trying to call. She made two attempts, and couldn’t get through to anyone. Voicemail messages were left with both people. 

 

Donna had started pacing, and the Doctor caught up with them after closing the TARDIS doors. 

 

“She can’t get anyone on the phone,” Rose told him when he came up beside her. 

 

The Doctor rubbed the back of his neck, unsure of what to do with the situation.  Emotional females were never his strong suit.

 

Suddenly, Donna shouted, “Taxi!” 

 

She became more and more frustrated as each progressive cab passed her by.  Rose could sense her temper flaring and interrupted with a bit of logic, “Do you have any money on ya?”

 

Donna turned to her with a glare.  “Pockets!” she shouted angrily.

 

“Right.  I’ll just, umm… shall I?” the Doctor asked as he held up his sonic and pointed over his shoulder towards the cashpoint.

 

“Yeah, alright,” Rose told him with a sigh.  There seemed to be no way to keep Donna calm for more than a minute or two.

 

He went over to the cashpoint and stood in the queue behind several other people, jiggling up and down with impatience. Queues always made him impatient. When he finally got to the front of the line, he glanced around to see who might be able to see, pulled out his sonic, and used it to get the money from the machine.

 

While they waited for the Doctor to return, Rose tried to get Donna back to the TARDIS again.  It would be so much easier if they didn’t have to flag down a taxi.

 

“Donna, come back to the TARDIS, we can get you there much faster than these cars ever could,” she tried to reason with the woman.

 

“Th at alien got the wrong place last time, I’m not gonna wind up on Mars next time!” she denied.

 

“There’s something wrong with the ship.  We’ll get it fixed quick and I’ll help him drive next time,” Rose replied calmly. “Just come back, and we’ll have you there in a mo’.”

 

Donna looked at her, and then at the Doctor, who still had a person in front of him at the cashpoint. “Okay,” she replied, defeated.

 

They started walking toward the big, blue box sitting down the road, when Rose noticed a group of Santas, which looked horribly familiar. Was it Christmas again already?  She stared at the group, making sure that she was right about her gut feeling, preparing herself to run.  When one of them turned toward her, and she got a glimpse of its face, she knew for sure it was them.

 

Great, she thought, it’s Christmas, and we’ve got robot Santas- again. The Santas walked past the Doctor, who was at the cashpoint by then, and came straight toward her and Donna. 

 

“Donna,” she started, “We’ve got to-” Then as loud as she could, to get the Doctor’s attention, she yelled, “Run!”

 

There was some kind of explosion behind them as they fled the scene, but Rose didn’t turn to see what had happened. She ushered Donna through a side street that had less people on it. They twisted and turned corners, but no matter what they did, every time they looked back, there was another one of the festive robots behind them. 

 

They took two more turns, and when they got towards the end of that street, Rose looked back one last time, and didn’t see anything. They rested there a minute, Donna gasping for breath. 

 

“Do you do this a lot then?” Donna asked between breaths. “Running for your life, I mean.”

 

“Yes,” Rose answered, a bit out of breath herself. Running with the Doctor was definitely a way to keep in shape.

 

“Did we just run from Santa?” she asked incredulously. “I mean,  Santa was shooting at us or something ? ”

 

“Yep,” Rose replied, popping her ‘p’ just like the Doctor did. “The St. Nick stuff’s a disguise. They’re actually robots.” 

 

“Robots?”

 

“Yeah,” Rose told her.  “M et them last Christm as. I think it was last Christmas. What year is it?” 

 

“2006,” Donna said. “All year. How come you don’t know what year it is?”

 

“Traveling in the TARDIS,” Rose explained. “It doesn’t just do space, it does Time as well.” 

 

“Time Travel? That’s bonkers!” Donna exclaimed. She then looked around and questioned, “Where’s your alien boyfriend?” 

 

“Who knows. He was on the other side of the Santas when we took off running.  And he’s not really my ,  umm, boyfriend,” Rose replied.

 

“Well, how do we find him?” Donna asked. 

 

XxXxXxXx

 

Several streets away, the Doctor heard Rose yell “Run!” He looked up, trying to figure out the exact reason for this command. He saw Rose and Donna running off into the distance as fast as their legs would carry them, and made to go after them. Suddenly, there was a massive explosion between himself and the women he was following.  It was then that he noticed a small group of robots dressed as Santa Claus.

 

“Oh,” he groaned.  “Is it Christmas already?”

 

The Doctor found that in the confusion of hysteria following the attack, he couldn’t tell which way Rose had run with their new friend. He pulled out his sonic. Last time he had run across these robots, he had scared them away with his screwdriver. This time, however, they weren’t after him and had already moved to follow their quarry. 

 

The girls were already too far away for him to be able to catch up and be of any help.  He knew he wouldn’t be able to find Ros e, s o he turned and ran for the TARDIS, knowing that they had her mobile on them. He could trace that… maybe.

 

He stormed into the Time ship and made his way to the console. The ship hummed at him in irritation for losing the ir W olf. 

 

“I know!” he shouted angrily at the ceiling as he frantically typed at the keyboard. Adding insult to injury, the signals coming from the various robots outside seemed to be interfering with his ability to track Rose’s mobile.

 

He cursed colourfully in Gallifreyan, which the ship admonished him for, prude that she was. Since that wasn’t working, he decided to try a different tactic. He ran deeper into the ship, to her room, which wasn’t far down the hallway and grabbed her hairbrush. He pulled a hair out, and scanned it with his sonic, then ran back to the console, jamming the sonic into a small access port. 

 

“Come on, come on,” he mumbled through grinding teeth. 

 

As soon as he said that, a shrill ringing sounded from the console.

 

“You’re ringing, what?” he asked, confused, before it hit him. “Phone!” He grabbed the handset, fumbling slightly and almost dropping it before he put it to his ear. 

 

“Rose!” he shouted into the phone hopefully.

 

“Blimey,” came the voice he had been aching to hear. “It’s a telephone, Doctor, not a megaphone.”

 

“Rose, are you okay?” he asked urgently.

 

“Yeah, we’re good, lost ‘em,” she replied. “But we could use a lift!”

 

He breathed out a sigh of relief. “Where are you?” he asked. 

 

Rose rattled off the nearest cross streets, and the Doctor input their coordinates to pilot the ship to pick them up. A moment later, he ran to the doors and threw them open to see the smiling face of Rose Tyler, and the partially scared and partially scowling face of Donna.

 

“See?” Rose told the woman in the wedding dress. “I told you he’d be able to land right here.”

 

“But, but, it just…” Donna trailed off and threw her hands up in the air. “It just appeared! One moment it’s not here, and the next, it is!”

 

“You get used to it,” Rose  commented . 

 

Donna leaned back against the wall and sighed. 

 

“Did we miss it?” the Doctor asked her.

 

“Yeah. Rose said this was a time machine.  Could we go back?” Donna questioned, slightly teary-eyed.

 

“No,” the Doctor replied. “You already called them, and we can’t go back on someone’s personal timeline.  We’re part of events now.”

 

“Found that out the hard way. Trust me, ‘s better this way,” Rose added. 

 

“Oh,” Donna sighed. 

 

“Well, you can book another date,” the Doctor said optimistically.

 

“Course we can,” she mumbled disappointedly.

 

“You've still got the honeymoon,” Rose suggested with a bump to her shoulder.

 

“It's just a holiday now,” she despaired.

 

“You’re right.  I’m sorry, Donna,” Rose apologized.

 

“It's not your fault,” Donna told her. “So, come on then. Robot  Sa ntas, what are they for?”

 

“Ah, your basic robo scavenger. The Father Christmas stuff is just a disguise. They're trying to blend in. We met them last Christmas,” the Doctor explained.

 

“Why, what happened then?” Donna questioned.

 

“Great big spaceship hovering over London?” Donna had a blank look at that. “You didn't notice?” the Doctor asked.

 

“I had a bit of a hangover,” she replied dryly.

 

“What about all the people standing on top of the buildings like they were going to all kill themselves?” Rose added disbelievingly.  Donna shrugged.

 

Rose and the Doctor looked at one another incredulously. How do you miss something like that?

 

“So, what do you do, Spaceman and Space girlfriend?” Donna asked, changing the subject.

 

“We’re n-” Rose started.  

 

“Question is, what do camouflaged robot mercenaries want with you? And how did you get inside the  TARDIS ? I don't know. What's your job?” the Doctor asked. 

 

“I'm a secretary,” she replied.

 

The Doctor got out his screwdriver and started scanning her, the light shining straight into her eyes annoyingly.  “It's weird. I mean, you're not special, you're not powerful, you're not connected, you're not clever, you're not important-” he began rambling.

 

“Rose, you ever wanna just punch him in the face? Stop bleeping me!” Donna interrupted.

 

“Rude, Doctor,” she admonished and pulled the sonic from his hands.

 

“What kind of secretary?” the Doctor asked, trying to get the sonic back from Rose, who held it behind her back. He pouted adorably at her. It didn’t phase her, though, and she wound up sticking the sonic in her bra.

 

His eyes widened as he considered how in the world he was going to get it back now.  

 

Donna was busy trying to get a rock out of her shoe as she answered and didn’t see their antics. “I'm at HC Clements. It's where I met Lance. I was temping,” she answered. “ I mean, it was all a bit posh really. I'd spent the last two years at a double glazing firm. Well, I thought I'm never going to fit in here. And then he made me a coffee. I mean, that just doesn't happen. Nobody gets the secretaries a coffee. And Lance, he's the head of HR!” she added brightly. “He don't need to bother with me. But he was nice, he was funny, and it turns out he thought everyone else was really snotty too. So that's how it started, me and him. One cup of coffee. That was it,” she told them. 

 

“When was this?” Rose asked

 

“Six months ago,” Donna answered.

 

“You’re getting married after only knowing him six months?” Rose questioned, clearly not believing that anyone could get to know someone enough to marry them that quickly.  Well, she did know a little about love at first sight...

 

“Well, he insisted,” Donna replied. “And he nagged, and he nagged me, and he just wore me down. Then finally, I just gave in.”

 

The Doctor and Rose shared a knowing look. Donna didn’t seem like the person to be worn down in less than six months. More like the one to wear someone else down. 

 

“What does HC Clements do?” the Doctor asked, trying to get back to the mystery at hand.

 

“Oh, security systems. You know, entry codes, ID cards, that sort of thing. If you ask me, it's a posh name for locksmiths,” Donna explained.

 

“Keys?” Rose wondered.

 

“Are you deducting?” the Doctor asked, eyeing her speculatively.

 

Rose shrugged, not sure yet what the connection might be, but  was making a list of clues.

 

“Anyway, enough of my CV. Come on, it's time to face the consequences. Oh, this is going to be so shaming. You can do the explaining, Martian boy,” she informed him,  poking her finger in his chest as she walked past him. 

 

“Yeah. I'm not from Mars,” the Doctor called out. 

 

Donna stopped before she entered the TARDIS and lamented, “Oh, I had this great big reception all planned. Everyone's going to be heartbroke n,” t hen stepped inside the ship.

 

As soon as she was inside, the Doctor turned to Rose and asked, “Can I have my sonic back now?”

 

“I’ll think about it,” she replied with a smirk and walked past him. 

 

As she stepped past, he darted his hand out, and grabbed the blue light poking from the top of her shirt. His fingers brushing along her cleavage.

 

“Oi!”

 

He waggled his eyebrows at her teasingly and walked past her to the console.

 

The bloody alien.

 


	3. The Reception

Donna entered the reception hall ahead of the Doctor and Rose. They were all stunned to see the party in full swing. Everyone was dancing to loud holiday music as if nothing unusual had occurred at all. Rose and the Doctor exchanged a confused glance with each other.

"You had the reception without me?" Donna questioned loudly, making sure that she would catch someone's attention.

"Donna, what happened to you?" a dark skinned man, who had been dancing with a rather leggy blonde, asked her. He was wearing a rather fancy tuxedo and the Doctor wondered if he might be the groom.

"You had the reception without me?" Donna asked again, her fury growing by the second.

"Hello. I'm the Doctor and this is Rose," the Doctor interjected with a grin.

"They had the reception without me," Donna told them indignantly.

"Yes, I gathered," the Doctor responded.

"This is insane," Rose mumbled under her breath.

"Well, it was all paid for. Why not?" asked the blonde that had been dancing with the first man to acknowledge Donna.

"Thank you, Nerys," Donna said tensely. So that was the infamous Nerys.

"Well, what were we supposed to do? I got your silly little message in the end. I'm on Earth? Very funny. What the hell happened? How did you do it? I mean, what's the trick, because I'd love to know," an older woman demanded and suddenly everyone was talking at once.

Donna seemed overwhelmed by their shouting for a moment, before suddenly bursting into tears and wailing loudly. At her sudden outburst, the man that they had guessed was Lance, folded Donna in a hug and all of the guests applauded. Over Lance's shoulder, Donna threw the Doctor and Rose a wink, her face clearly showing that the tears had been fake.

The Doctor and Rose stood by the bar and watched as everyone enjoyed the party. The Doctor wondered how they could all manage to ignore the obvious threat that might be looming from Donna's experience. He shook his head and looked over at Rose.

She was chewing on her nails as she watched all the people dancing and talking happily. It was a nervous habit of hers and he pondered what might have her upset. Following her gaze, he noticed that she was watching a couple of women. One looked older than the other, possibly her mother and the two embraced, laughing over whatever they had been discussing. He looked back and Rose and saw a tear fall down her cheek.

She was missing her mum, he realized, and started trying to think of some way to cheer her up again. That was when a familiar guitar riff sounded over the sound system. Without a word, he grabbed Rose's hand and dragged her onto the dance floor, just as Billy Joel's "You May Be Right" began to play. It took a moment of the Doctor dancing ridiculously in front of her before Rose began to smile.

"You may be right! I may be crazy! But it just may be a lunatic you're looking for!" the Doctor sang along with the music.

The pair danced together to the upbeat music and Rose's melancholy seemed to disappear completely. They were both laughing and slightly breathless by the end of the song. They made their way back towards the bar for a drink.

"Can I have your mobile, Rose? I want to look up this HC Clements," the Doctor told her and she pulled the phone from her pocket.

He took the phone from her, and, with the use of his sonic to make it go faster, he looked up everything he could on the company. It was when he came across the words "Sole Prop. Torchwood" that his blood ran cold.

When Rose looked over at the phone and saw the words, she got a dark look in her eyes. They both stared at one another for a moment before she whispered, "I thought they were gone?"

"So did I," the Doctor growled. The two of them looked out over the crowd, wondering which of these people might be a part of whatever was happening to Donna, and maybe even what happened during Canary Wharf.

Rose spotted a cameraman, who was making a video of the reception and pointed him out. "You think maybe he'd have been at the wedding too?" she asked.

"Let's find out," he replied and tugged her along behind him towards the person fiddling with the electronic equipment.

"Hi, there," the Doctor started jovially when they met the man, "I was wondering, did you happen to catch what happened back there at the wedding?"

"Oh, I taped the whole thing," he answered. "They've all had a look. They said sell it to You've Been Framed. I said, more like the News. Here we are."

He hit a few buttons on the camera so that the Doctor and Rose could watch the video of Donna disappearing in a golden cloud. He was shocked at what he saw. That wasn't possible. It looked like- no.

"Can't be. Play it again?" the Doctor asked.

"What is that, Doctor?" Rose asked since he seemed to recognize the energy.

"Clever, mind. Good trick, I'll give her that. I was clapping," the videographer joked.

"But that looks like Huon Particles," the Doctor said incredulously.

"What's that then?" the cameraman asked.

"That's impossible. That's ancient," the Doctor replied, answering both the cameraman's question and Rose's anticipated query as well. "Huon energy doesn't exist anymore, not for billions of years. It's unique, it's..." he trailed off as a thought occurred to him. Oh, he was so thick. They were tracking Donna, using the huon energy. He'd been distracted and didn't think of it.

He ran to the nearest window, Rose on his tail, and saw the robot Santas.

"They're tracking her, aren't they?" Rose wondered.

"Yeah," the Doctor replied. He then ran back into the reception and to Donna. "Donna! They're back!" the Doctor hastily told her.

"What's back?" Donna asked. Then it hit her. "The Santa things?"

"Yeah," Rose replied, visually scanning the room for exits. "We've got to get everyone out of here."

"My God, it's all my family," Donna said, realizing that almost everyone she loved was right there and in danger.

"Out the back door!" the Doctor shouted suddenly. He went that way, but saw some of the robots there. "Maybe not." Every likely exit was blocked by at least one of them and he noticed one holding some kind of remote control.

"We're trapped!" Donna realized.

"Christmas trees," the Doctor noticed.

"What about them?" Donna asked.

"They kill," Rose explained, then yelled, "Get away from the trees!"

Donna caught on quickly and hollered for everyone to not touch the trees.

"Get away from the Christmas trees!" the Doctor joined in when everyone just looked at the two women like they were nutters. "Everyone get away from them! Everyone stay away from the trees! Stay away from the trees!"

"Oh, for God's sakes, the man's an idiot," Donna's mother scoffed. There was always one person like that, every time they tried to warn people. "Why? What harm's a Christmas tree going to-" She cut off her sentence when the baubles started to rise from the tree. "Oh," she said, in awe.

A second later, the shiny, round balls started to drop on the people in the room, exploding when they landed. Everyone started to panic and get down.

The Doctor quickly looked around the room for his resources and his gaze focussed on the stage. He pulled Rose along behind him as he made his way to the DJ equipment and urged her to sit off to the side. "Cover your ears," he warned before moving to flick some switches.

He then grabbed a microphone from the stand and called out, "Oi! Santa! Word of advice. If you're attacking a man with a sonic screwdriver, don't let him near the sound system," before he jammed his screwdriver into a microphone input in the sound system. A loud noise sounded and the harmonics from it worked to vibrate the robots into pieces.

After the robots hit the floor, Rose scanned the area for any more of the Santas, Donna had started checking on people, and the Doctor went over to the piles of parts scattered on the floor to investigate. When Rose didn't see any more of the festively dressed robots that could hurt more people, she followed the Doctor. A second later, Donna came over as well.

"Look at that," the Doctor pointed out as he examined the head of one of the robots. "Remote control for the decorations, but there's a second remote control for the robots. They're not scavengers anymore. I think someone's taken possession."

"Never mind all that. You're a doctor. People have been hurt," Donna told him.

"Nah, they wanted you alive," the Doctor replied. "Look," he said as he tossed one of the ornaments at her. "They're not active now."

"All I'm saying, you could help," Donna argued.

"Got to think of the bigger picture. There's still a signal!" he exclaimed as he stood up, sonic in hand and lit up. He sprinted outside, following his signal, leaving them gaping after him.

"He's not that kind of doctor," Rose told her in a low voice before following him.

They caught up with the Doctor outside the reception hall.

"There's someone behind this, directing the roboforms," he explained, still scanning.

"But why is it me? What have I done?" Donna asked worriedly.

"Don't worry, Donna. We'll figure this out," Rose told her, rubbing her back reassuringly.

"If we find the controller, we'll find that out. Ooo! It's up there. Something in the sky," he told them as he held his sonic upward. "I've lost the signal. Donna, we've got to get to your office. HC Clements. I think that's where it all started. Lance! Is it Lance? Lance, can you give us a lift?" he asked the man who had just joined the group outside.

The man seemed a bit reluctant to at first, but quickly decided to go ahead and give them the requested lift. Once inside the car, they had a moment to think, and Donna looked furious again.

"I can't believe them!" she shouted. "They had the reception without me."

"Yes, I gathered," the Doctor said, amused. Rose elbowed him in the side and shook her head to indicate that was not a smart idea.

"The whole family," Donna started, sadly, "they all just…"

"I know," Rose tried to comfort her, rubbing her shoulders. "That's family for you. Sometimes, sometimes they're just...stupid. But they're family, they care about you. Hold on to them, because you never know when they're gonna be gone."

Donna saw the pain in Rose's expression and realized that this young woman had seen things far beyond her years. "How does someone so young get so wise?" Donna asked softly.

"Experience," Rose replied sadly.

Donna looked like she was about to say something, but they pulled up to the building that Donna worked in just then and got out. Donna led them up to the floor she worked on.

"To you lot this might just be a locksmiths, but H C Clements was bought up twenty three years ago by the Torchwood Institute," the Doctor lectured when they got to her office.

"Who are they?" Donna asked.

"They were behind the battle of Canary Wharf," the Doctor explained.

Donna looked blank at the mention of the worldwide battle.

"The Cyberman invasion," Rose added, hoping to jog her memory. Maybe they called it something different.

"Skies over London full of Daleks?" the Doctor added, when he saw that she still didn't know what they were talking about.

"Oh, I was in Spain," Donna told them.

"They had Cybermen in Spain. They were all over the world," Rose told her.

"Scuba diving," she continued her excuse.

Rose rolled her eyes as the Doctor said, "That big picture, Donna. You keep on missing it. Torchwood was destroyed, but HC Clements stayed in business. I think someone else came in and took over the operation."

"But what do they want with me?" Donna questioned.

"Somehow you've been dosed with Huon energy" the Doctor answered. "And that's a problem, because Huon energy hasn't existed since the Dark Times. The only place you'd find a Huon particle now is a remnant in the heart of the TARDIS," he explained.

"What?" Rose gasped, slightly worried that she may have been exposed to it as well.

"See?" he continued, not noticing her distress. "That's what happened. Say, that's the TARDIS," he told Donna, picking up a mug. "And that's you," he added, wiggling a pencil.

"The particles inside you activated. The two sets of particles magnetised and whap!" he explained as he shook the mug and the pencil, bringing them closer together and dropped the pencil inside of the mug. "You were pulled inside the TARDIS," he finished.

While he did his demonstration, Rose noticed Lance getting a bit fidgety out of the corner of her eye. She already had suspicions about him and this behaviour was only strengthening them.

"I'm a pencil inside a mug?" Donna asked, aghast.

"Yes, you are. 4H. Sums you up," the Doctor quipped.

"Rude, Doctor," Rose chastised.

"Lance? What was HC Clements working on? Anything top secret? Special operations? Do not enter?" he questioned as he continued to search through the computer databases.

"I don't know, I'm in charge of personnel. I wasn't project manager," Lance answered. "Why am I even explaining myself? What the hell are we talking about?" he asked, indignantly.

The Doctor pulled up a floorplan of the building on the computer.

"They make keys, that's the point," he answered. "And look at this. We're on the third floor" he pointed out.

He walked the group over to the lift and pressed the call button to open the doors. The Doctor continued his explanation, "Underneath reception, there's a basement, yes? Then how come when you look on the lift, there's a button marked lower basement? There's a whole floor which doesn't exist on the official plans. So what's down there, then?"

"Are you telling me this building's got a secret floor?" Lance asked incredulously.

"No, I'm showing you this building's got a secret floor," the Doctor replied with that look that said he must have dribbled on his shirt.

"It needs a key" Donna informed them.

"He doesn't," Rose replied. She crossed her arms and leaned against the wall of the glass elevator with a smirk.

The Doctor pointed his sonic at the LB button. It lit up and made it's distinctive sound.

"Right then. Thanks, you two. Rose and I can handle this. See you later," he told the pair as he put his sonic away.

"No chance, Martian. You two keep saving my life. I ain't letting you out of my sight," Donna adamantly told them as she stepped inside the elevator.

"Going down," the Doctor commented after she was in, not wanting to argue with the ginger woman.

"Lance?" Donna called to him, telling him, without words, to get in.

"Maybe I should go to the police," he offered and made a motion to leave.

"Inside," she ordered. Lance immediately stepped inside.

"To honour and obey?" the Doctor said, amused.

Rose tried to hide a giggle behind her hand.

"Tell me about it, mate," Lance replied with an eyeroll.

"Oi!" Donna exclaimed as the door closed.

They stepped out of the elevator a moment later into a concrete encased corridor. Everyone took a quick look around.

"Where are we? Well, what goes on down here?" Donna asked.

"That's what we're here to find out," Rose told her.

"Do you think Mister Clements knows about this place?" Donna questioned.

"The mysterious HC Clements? I think he's part of it," the Doctor answered. "Oh, look. Transport."

Three Segways stood by the wall, just waiting for them.

"There's only three, but there are four of us," Donna said.

"I'll stay behind," Lance offered, looking all too glad at the prospect.

"Nonsense, Rose and I can share! Right, Rose?" the Doctor announced, bouncing happily towards the scooters.

"Sure," she replied and ducked in front of the Doctor as he held the controls.

The Doctor, Rose, and Donna laughed at the ridiculousness of their situation, while Lance looked at them like they were crazy. Before long, they came to a door marked 'Authorised Personnel Only.' They all stopped and got off of their Segways.

The Doctor turned the wheel that sealed the door closed and told them, "Wait here. Just need to get my bearings. Don't do anything."

"You'd better come back," Donna warned him.

"As if I'd leave Rose behind. Besides, I couldn't get rid of you if I tried," the Doctor replied and climbed up the ladder inside the doorway.

"Donna, have you thought about this? Properly? I mean, this is serious! What the hell are we going to do?" Lance asked.

"Oh, I thought July," Donna replied offhandedly, thinking about her wedding. Lance looked at her like she was insane.

"July's a good month for a wedding," Rose cut in. "Warm, several months away..." she trailed off as she saw the bum of the Doctor coming back down the ladder.

"Thames flood barrier right on top of us," the Doctor called when he was almost down the ladder. "Torchwood snuck in and built this place underneath."

"What, there's like a secret base hidden underneath a major London landmark?" Donna asked incredulously

"Oh, I know. Unheard of," the Doctor replied, as if he were shocked.

"That never happens," Rose added with a smirk, thinking about the other times she'd seen a major landmark with something hidden below it.

They continued their search through the hallways and came upon some kind of laboratory. All around them were large, bubbling tubes of glass going from the floor up into the ceiling.

"Oo, look at this. Stunning!" the Doctor exclaimed as he began to bounce around the room like an excited puppy.

"What does it do?" Donna wondered.

"Particle extrusion. Hold on. Brilliant. They've been manufacturing Huon particles. Course, my people got rid of Huons. They unravel the atomic structure," he explained as he put on his glasses and examined one of the bubbling tubes.

Rose sucked in a breath at this. She'd been exposed to the heart of the TARDIS, which was the only other place where you'd find huon particles, according to the Doctor.

"Your people? Who are they? What company do you represent?" Lance asked rapidly.

Rose felt her suspicions about this man spike at his tone. What exactly was his role in all of this? Lance didn't seem particularly surprised walking into this room.

"Oh, I'm a freelancer," the Doctor answered quickly, then quickly diverted everyone's attention to the matter at hand. "But this lot are rebuilding them. They've been using the river. Extruding them through a flat hydrogen base so they've got the end result, Huon particles in liquid form." He held up a small container that held some of the liquid.

"And that's what's inside me?" Donna asked, worriedly.

The Doctor turned the little knob on top of the container, which caused the liquid to glow gold. Suddenly, Donna started glowing as well, much like she had in that video they had seen back at the reception. Rose gasped when she saw that. The Doctor looked over at her for a moment, then turned his attention back to the vial in his hands.

"Oh, my God!" Donna started freaking out a bit.

"Genius," the Doctor breathed out with a smile on his face and deactivated the vial of liquid. Rose could tell he was impressed. "Because the particles are inert, they need something living to catalyse inside and that's you. Saturate the body and then. Ha!" he shouted as something occurred to him and jumped back.

"The wedding! Yes, you're getting married, that's it! Best day of your life, walking down the aisle. Oh, your body's a battleground! There's a chemical war inside! Adrenaline, acetylcholine. Wham! go the endorphins. Oh, you're cooking! Yeah, you're like a walking oven. A pressure cooker, a microwave, all churning away. The particles reach boiling point. Shazam!" the Doctor babbled.

A loud crack filled the room as Donna once again smacked the Doctor across the face. Rose winced as she could tell her mother would have been envious of that one.

"What did I do this time?" he asked, looking like someone had just taken the last banana.

"Are you enjoying this?" Donna yelled. She composed herself a little bit. "Right, just tell me. These particles, are they dangerous? Am I safe?" she asked, afraid of what the answer might be.

"Yes," the Doctor answered automatically.

"Doctor, if your lot got rid of Huon particles, why did they do that?" Donna queried shrewdly.

"Because they were deadly," the Doctor admitted.

"Oh, my God." Donna looked like she was about to fall apart.

"But Doctor, what about me? Because…" Rose began.

"You're fine, Rose. Nothing happened to you when the particles activated. I know what you're thinking, but you're fine. And I'll sort it out, Donna. Whatever's been done to you, I'll reverse it. I am not about to lose someone else," the Doctor insisted.

"Oh, she is long since lost," they heard a booming female voice coming from somewhere.

One of the walls slid up into the ceiling. Behind it, a large space and a huge hole in the floor were revealed.

"I have waited so long," the voice said, hissing like a snake. "Hibernating at the edge of the universe until the secret heart was uncovered and called out to waken!"

Lance ran off just as everybody became aware of the black robed robots. They had abandoned their Father Christmas costumes and turned their guns on the Doctor, Rose, and Donna, preventing their escape.

"Someone's been digging," the Doctor commented as if he weren't bothered by the weapons pointed at them. "Oh, very Torchwood. Drilled by laser. How far down does it go?" he asked.

"Down and down, all the way to the centre of the Earth!" the hissing voice boasted.

"Really? Seriously? What for?" the Doctor questioned the voice.

"Dinosaurs," Donna suddenly spoke up.

"What?" the Doctor spun around and questioned her.

"Dinosaurs?" Donna said again, less confidently this time.

"I doubt it, Donna," Rose whispered over her shoulder.

"What are you on about, dinosaurs?" the Doctor asked in a higher voice, wondering where this was going.

"That film, Under the Earth, with dinosaurs?" Donna asked, unable to remember the name of the movie. "Trying to help," she added when she saw the Doctor's incredulous look.

"Journey to the Centre of the Earth," Rose corrected.

"That's not helping," the Doctor rebuked her.

"Such an interesting trio you are," the voice commented, interrupting their exchange.

"Only a madman talks to thin air and trust me, you don't want to make me mad. Where are you?" the Doctor shouted towards the ceiling in frustration.

"High in the sky. Floating so high on Christmas night," the hissing woman told them.

"I didn't come all this way just to talk on the intercom. Come on, let's have a look at you!" the Doctor ordered.

"Who are you with such command?" the voice asked.

"I'm the Doctor," he introduced himself, drawing himself up to his full height.

"Prepare your best medicines, doctor man, for you will be sick at heart," the hissing woman told him.

A shimmering light flashed before them and a large, red creature appeared. She looked like a huge spider, but with the upper torso of a humanoid. The Doctor gasped at the sight of her, clearly recognizing her species.

"Racnoss? But that's impossible. You're one of the Racnoss?" he questioned in shock.

"Empress of the Racnoss," she replied haughtily.

"If you're the Empress, where's the rest of the Racnoss? Or, are you the only one?" the Doctor postulated.

"Such a sharp mind," she admitted with another hiss.

"That's it, the last of your kind," he said, confidence returning. "The Racnoss come from the Dark Times, billions of years ago. Billions. They were carnivores, omnivores. They devoured whole planets," he explained to his companions.

"Whole planets?" Rose repeated. She noticed something near the ceiling and looked at it harder. Her stomach plunged when she realized what it was.

"Racnoss are born starving. Is that our fault?" the Empress asked.

"They eat people?" Donna wondered, looking sick at the thought.

Rose directed the Doctor's attention to the ceiling where she could clearly see someone wrapped up in spider silk.

"HC Clements, did he wear those, those er, black and white shoes?" the Doctor asked.

"He did!" Donna said with a sudden smile. "We used to laugh. We used to call him the fat cat in spats," she shared the office joke with them.

The Doctor pointed to the place that Rose had showed him earlier where a pair of feet were sticking out of the web across the ceiling, wearing black and white shoes.

"Oh, my God!" Donna shouted, suddenly looking like she might be sick.

"Mmm. My Christmas dinner," the Empress boasted, running her tongue over the large fangs in her mouth. The very thought of her eating the poor man made them all nauseous.

"You shouldn't even exist," the Doctor informed her. "Way back in history, the fledgling Empires went to war against the Racnoss. They were wiped out," he lectured.

They became aware of Lance behind the Empress. He held an axe in his hands and made a shushing gesture. Rose thought that maybe her assessment of the man was wrong after all.

"Except for me," the Empress told them.

"But that's what I've got inside me, that Huon energy thing," Donna said, hoping to hold onto the giant humanoid spider's attention. She turned her head towards the man coming at her with the axe. "Oi! Look at me, lady, I'm talking!" Donna yelled to get the Empress to turn back to her. "Where do I fit in? How comes I get all stacked up with these Huon particles? Look at me, you! Look me in the eye and tell me," she demanded.

"The bride is so feisty," the Empress of the Racnoss exclaimed.

Behind the Empress, Lance was approaching her with the axe he had acquired from somewhere. He held it over his head as if he were going to strike the giant spider in the back.

"Yes, I am! And I don't know what you are, you big thing, but a spider's just a spider and an axe is an axe! Now, do it!" Donna shouted confidently, proud of her fiancé.

Lance appeared ready to strike as the Empress turned to look at him and they both began to laugh. Lance dropped the axe then, as well as all pretense of being on their side.

"That was a good one. Your face," Lance said with a laugh.

"Lance is funny," the Empress hissed and smiled, although her fangs made it more of a grimace.

"What?" Donna squeaked, her face showing confusion at his reaction.

"Oh, you bastard," Rose growled at the traitorous man. "That's sick!"

"I'm sorry," the Doctor quietly said.

"Sorry for what? Lance, don't be so stupid! Get her!" Donna screamed.

"God, she's thick. Months I've had to put up with her. Months. A woman who can't even point to Germany on a map," Lance complained.

Rose started forward, like she was going to go after him, but the Doctor grabbed her back before she could step into the hole she had forgotten was there in her anger at the man.

"I don't understand," Donna said, confused.

"How did you meet him?" the Doctor questioned her.

"In the office," Donna replied.

"He made you coffee," Rose added.

"What?" Donna wondered why that mattered.

"Every day, I made you coffee," Lance announced, suddenly willing to be helpful in the explanation of his betrayal.

"You had to be dosed with liquid particles over six months," the Doctor told Donna as he placed a supportive hand on her shoulder.

"He was poisoning me," Donna said in sudden realization.

"It was all there in the job title. The Head of Human Resources," the Doctor said with disgust at this poor excuse for a human being.

"This time, it's personnel," Lance joked.

"Oh, ha ha," Rose snarked at him.

"But, we were getting married," Donna argued brokenly.

"Well, I couldn't risk you running off. I had to say yes," Lance explained. "And then I was stuck with a woman who thinks the height of excitement is a new flavour Pringle. Oh, I had to sit there and listen to all that yap yap yap. Oh, Brad and Angelina. Is Posh pregnant? X Factor, Atkins Diet, Feng Shui, split ends, text me, text me, text me. Dear God, the never ending fountain of fat, stupid trivia. I deserve a medal."

"Oh, is that what she's offered you? The Empress of the Racnoss? What are you, her consort?" the Doctor asked.

"It's better than a night with her," Lance sneered and pointed at the poor woman, who was still in her wedding dress.

Rose growled as she took hold of Donna's hand. This no good tosser wasn't good enough for Donna and here he was, insulting her like she was worthless.

"But I love you," Donna told him, clearly heartbroken by his admission.

"That's what made it easy. It's like you said, Doctor. The big picture. What's the point of it all if the human race is nothing? That's what the Empress can give me. The chance to go out there. To see it. The size of it all. I think you understand that, don't you, Doctor?" he tried to get some empathy from the other man, who he knew wasn't from Earth.

"Who is this little physician?" the Empress asked him.

"She said Martian," Lance explained.

"Oh, I'm sort of homeless. But the point is, what's down here? The Racnoss are extinct. What's going to help you four thousand miles down? That's just the molten core of the Earth, isn't it?" the Doctor deflected the question and tried to gain some information about the plan this Empress had for the huon particles.

"I think he wants us to talk," Lance said as he crossed his arms defiantly over his chest.

"I think so, too," the Empress agreed.

"Well, tough! All we need is Donna."

"You're not gettin' 'er!" Rose shouted.

"Kill this chattering little doctor man and his pet," the Empress ordered her robot soldiers.

"Don't you hurt them!" Donna shouted and jumped in front of her new friends defensively.

"No, no, Donna. It's all right," the Doctor told her, trying to keep her from throwing herself onto the fire needlessly.

"No, I won't let them," Donna shouted.

"At arms!" the Empress demanded and all of the robots raised their guns threateningly at the Doctor and Rose.

"Ah, now. Except-" the Doctor started.

"Take aim!" the Empress ordered.

"Well, I just want to point out the obvious-" the Doctor tried to reason with her.

"They won't hit the bride. They're such very good shots," the Racnoss Empress interrupted.

"Just, just, just, just, just hold on. Hold on just a tick. Just a tiny little, just a little tick," the Doctor said quickly, trying to buy them time. "If you think about it, the particles activated in Donna and drew her inside my spaceship. So reverse it, and the spaceship comes to her."

The Doctor turned the knob on the top of the container he had just pulled from his trouser pocket, causing Donna to glow brightly. And the sound of the universe breathing began to surround them protectively.

"Fire!"


	4. The Racnoss

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We hope you like what we did here.

The TARDIS materialized around the three humanoids, and Rose was reminded of the time that the Doctor materialized around her on the Gamestation. Except that time, the TARDIS had faded in and out like she was used to, and this time, the TARDIS materialized like a smoke cloud.

"Off we go," the Doctor announced as soon as the TARDIS was solid around them. "Oh, do you know what Rose said before about this being a time machine? Well, now we're going to use it. We need to find out what the Empress of the Racnoss is digging up. If something's buried at the planet's core, it must've been there since the beginning. That's just brilliant. Molto bene. I've always wanted to see this. Rose, Donna, we're going further back than I've ever been before," the Doctor babbled, a bit excitedly as he moved around the console

As he did that, Rose went over to Donna, who looked like she was going to be sick, and wrapped her arms around the woman she'd taken a liking to in order to offer her comfort. Donna buried her face in the younger woman's shoulder and sniffed. She noticed the Doctor watching them for a few seconds with a look of sadness.

"We've arrived. Want to see?" the Doctor asked in an effort to not only get things moving, but to keep Donna's mind off of things.

"I suppose," Donna replied in a dejected voice.

"Oh, that scanner's a bit small," the Doctor declared. "Maybe your way's best." He went to the doors and put his hand on the handle. "Come on. No human's ever seen this. You two will be the first," he called out.

"All I want to see is my bed," Donna replied as Rose steered her toward the door.

"Rose Tyler, Donna Noble, welcome to the creation of the Earth," he announced as he dramatically threw open the doors. Outside, there were rocks and dust, and the sun looked weaker than in her time, as it was surrounded by dust.

"We've gone back four point six billion years. There's no solar system, not yet. Only dust and rocks and gas. That's the Sun, over there. Brand new. Just beginning to burn," the Doctor informed both of them.

Rose looked in awe. She'd seen both the end of the Earth, and the beginning of the Earth now. The planet where she was born looked exactly the same before its formation as it did after its destruction. The only difference was the sun, small and new now, Gigantic and ancient then.

"Where's the Earth?" Donna wondered.

"All these rocks floating about will become our planet," Rose replied, "and in about nine point six billion years, the planet will be rocks and dust again."

"Puts the wedding in perspective. Lance was right. We're just tiny," Donna stated sadly.

"No, but that's what you do. The human race makes sense out of chaos. Marking it out with weddings and Christmas and calendars. This whole process is beautiful, but only if it's being observed," the Doctor assured her.

"So I came out of all this?" Donna asked, incredulously.

"And when you're gone, you'll be part of it again," Rose stated.

"Isn't that brilliant?" the Doctor asked enthusiastically.

The three of them stood in reverent silence for a moment, until a gigantic rock passed the doors of the TARDIS.

"I think that's the Isle of Wight," Donna joked. Oh, Rose liked her. She sort of reminded her of her mother, with all the shouting, and Doctor slapping, and jokes made- especially the Mars jokes. Once they were finished with this Racnoss thing, maybe she could come along for a trip or two, to take her mind off of Lance. Running was good for that.

"Eventually, gravity takes hold," the Doctor lectured. "Say, one big rock, heavier than the others, starts to pull other rocks towards it. All the dust and gas and elements get pulled in. Everything, piling in until you get-" he gestured out the doors.

"The Earth," Donna finished.

"I wonder what that first rock was," Rose commented just before a seven pointed star showed up, slowly maneuvering among the rocks.

"Look," Donna pointed out.

"The Racnoss," The Doctor confirmed. He ran back to the controls and ran a few scans. "Hold on. The Racnoss are hiding from the war. What's it doing?" he asked the women still watching the ship outside.

"Exactly what you said," Donna realized as the rocks and dust slowly started to move toward the ship, then sped up, swirling around it and hiding it from view.

"So, the first rock wasn't a rock at all?" Rose queried.

"Yeah, they didn't just bury something at the centre of the Earth. They became the centre of the Earth," the Doctor acknowledged grimly.

A loud bang sounded, and the TARDIS shook. Rose took a big step back from the doors. The Doctor ran back to their sides to take a look.

"What was that?" Donna asked, scared.

"Did one of the rocks hit us?" Rose wondered.

"Trouble," the Doctor answered. He closed the doors quickly and strode up to the console. The TARDIS started shaking harder, bad enough to start throwing them about, but the rotor remained still.

"What the hell's it doing?" Donna shouted, trying to hold on.

"Remember that little trick of mine, particles pulling particles. Well, it works in reverse. They're pulling us back!" the Doctor yelled.

"Shit!" Rose exclaimed. Anything that could mess with the TARDIS like this wasn't good.

"Well, can't you stop it? Hasn't it got a handbrake? Can't you reverse or warp or beam or something?" Donna asked, trying to come up with an idea that the alien would understand.

"Backseat driver," the Doctor muttered. Then his face cleared, and Rose could tell he had an idea. "Oh! Wait a minute! The extrapolator!" He pulled out a very familiar looking object from under the console that Rose hadn't seen in over a year: the surfboard thing from Margaret the Slitheen. Last she'd seen of it, Jack had used it and the TARDIS to power a forcefield around the Gamestation.

"Wow, I haven't seen that in forever!" Rose exclaimed. The Doctor grinned at her.

"It can't stop us, but it should give us a good bump!" he yelled excitedly as he grabbed his rubber mallet. He told Rose to press a little, yellow button when he gave the signal and watched the scanner intently. After a moment, he shouted, "Now!"

Rose smacked the button at the same time the Doctor hit the extrapolator, and they were all thrown to the floor in a violent jolt. She picked herself back up off the floor immediately, and both of them went over to Donna and grabbed a hand to help her upright.

"Blimey, that was rough," Donna complained when she was standing again. She rubbed her arm and grimaced. "What was that?" she asked.

"A forcefield generator," Rose replied. 'It's designed for a single person, but a while back, it was made compatible with the TARDIS and we use it as a shield," Rose replied, confident of that much.

"We're about two hundred yards to the right. Come on!" the Doctor called from the entrance. The human women followed the Doctor down the corridor in the basement.

"But what do we do?" Donna asked Rose.

"I don't know. I make it up as I go along. But trust me, I've got a history," the Doctor replied reassuringly, having thought that the question was directed at him.

"He's really, really good at it," Rose added.

The Doctor pulled out a stethoscope from one of his pockets and put it to the door, as if he were breaking in. Rose idly wondered if it was the same one she'd used on him before when he first regenerated. .

"But I still don't understand. I'm full of particles, but what for?" Dona asked.

"There's a Racnoss web at the centre of the Earth, but my people unravelled their power source. The Huon particles ceased to exist but the Racnoss were stuck," the Doctor explained. "They've just taken hibernation for billions of years. Frozen, dead, kaput. So you're the new key. Brand new particles, living particles! They need you to open it and you have never been so quiet," he finished.

Rose, who had been paying attention to the Doctor and what he was doing, spun around and realized that the Ginger woman was gone.

"No, no, no, where is she?" Rose asked, knowing the Doctor didn't have an answer for her.

The Doctor opened the door he had been trying to get open, and behind it, confirming what Rose had been expecting, was a robot.

"Okay," the Doctor said and went to shut the door again, but the robot kept him from doing so. The Doctor backed up quickly, and the force that the roboform was using made the door slam open all the way. It destabilized the robot's balance a bit, and Rose kicked out at it, sending it crashing to the floor. She winced at the noise, and the bit of pain in her foot.

As soon as it was down, the Doctor shorted it out with his sonic. Then he removed the robe and mask of the robot.

"You've got a plan. What are we doing?" Rose asked the Doctor as he put on the robe. She hopped around and shook her foot.

"Are you okay?" he asked, immediately trying to scan her foot.

"Same sorta pain as if I stubbed my toe. I'm fine," Rose assured him, hissing.

"Hold still," he commanded her.

"I'm fine, we need to get to Donna. Pain's already goin' away," Rose told him.

"Prove it, stand on that foot," the Doctor challenged. Rose did so for a second. When the Doctor couldn't see any sign of extra pain on her face, he nodded and pulled the mask over his face.

Just then, another robot showed up, and they took it down, without kicking it this time.

"Look, a costume for you," the Doctor said, as he pulled the coverings off of the new robot.

"Let's go reenact 'the Nightmare Before Christmas,'" Rose joked.

A few seconds later, they were on their way to the room where they were sure Donna had been taken: the room with the giant hole to the center of the Earth.

XxXxXxXx

The Doctor and Rose turned a corner, and the conversation that the Empress, Donna, and Lance had been having for sometime became less echoey.

"How thick are you?" the sneering voice of Lance came. The Doctor actually had to hold Rose back from rushing into the room. The man made his blood boil as well, but they needed to stay safe.

"My children, the long lost Racnoss, now reborn to feast on flesh! The web star shall come to me!" they heard the Empress of the Racnoss call out.

"Children?" Rose breathed out. The Doctor hoped that meant like the leader of a group calling the other members 'my children.'

"My babies will be hungry. They need sustenance. Perish the web!" the Racnoss ordered.

"Babies?" Rose asked, with a little squeak in her voice. So much for his hope. They were hatching.

"Use her, not me! Use her!" came the panicked voice of the coward. They slowly walked along the walkway, trying to get closer to the action.

"Oh, my funny little Lance! But you are quite impolite to your lady friend. The Empress does not approve," she spoke, and with that, the web holding him let go, and he fell into the depths of the Earth.

"Lance!" Donna screamed. Even though she had been hurt so badly by him, it was obvious that she didn't want Lance to die. The Doctor felt a sort of grim pleasure at the demise of the coward who sold out his own race and treated someone as compassionate as Donna had proven to be the way he had-anyone, really.

Beside him, Rose gasped as the Racnoss woman ordered the death of humans. "Is there any way to save the babies?" she asked.

"I'll try. Maybe I can do something with the huon energy," he responded, not wanting the death of a race on his hands yet again. They started walking up some steps slowly.

"My children are climbing towards me and none shall stop them. So you might as well unmask, my clever little doctor man and his woman," the Empress bragged.

They'd been caught. There was nothing to do now but take off the robes and masks.

"Oh well. Nice try. I've got you, Donna!" the Doctor shouted. He pointed his sonic at the web and activated it, cutting through the silk.

"I'm going to fall!" Donna screamed.

"You're going to swing! It's OK, I've got you!" the Doctor called back, just as the Racnoss webbing came undone. Donna swung from the web she had been tied to, over the center of the hole, and towards the Doctor, who had his arms out ready to catch her. He'd apparently made a miscalculation on the likely length or stretchiness of the web, though, because Donna was about a metre and a half too low to be caught. She hit the railing on the level below and fell to the ground.

"Donna!" Rose called out and ran down the stairs towards the woman who laid on the floor with her leg twisted under her.

"Oh. Sorry," the Doctor apologized sheepishly.

"Thanks for nothing," Donna replied, still laying on the floor.

"The doctor man amuses me" the Empress hissed.

"Empress of the Racnoss, I give you one last chance. I can find you a planet. I can find you and your children a place in the universe to co-exist. Take that offer and end this now," the Doctor called out.

"These men are so funny," the Empress laughed, assured of her victory.

"What's your answer?" he asked. The Doctor noticed that Rose had gotten down to Donna and was helping her up from the floor.

"Oh I'm afraid I have to decline," the spiderish woman replied confidently.

"What happens next is your own doing," he told her in a cold voice as he readied himself. He looked down at Rose, who mouthed the word 'babies.'

"I'll show you what happens next," the Empress threatened. "At arms! Take aim! And-"

"Relax," the Doctor said calmly and all of the robots slumped.

"What did you do?" Donna yelled.

"Guess what I've got, Donna?" the Doctor asked rhetorically as he held out the remote for the robots. "Pockets!" .

"How did that fit in there?" Donna questioned him in shock.

"All his pockets are bigger on the inside," Rose answered. "'S really useful."

"Roboforms are not necessary. My children may feast on the Martian couple's flesh," the Racnoss Empress boasted.

"Oh, but we're not from Mars," the Doctor replied in a dark voice.

"Then where?" the Empress asked.

"I'm from Earth," Rose answered.

"My home planet is far away and long since gone. But its name lives on," the Doctor responded. He drew himself to his full height and spoke the name of his planet. "Gallifrey." Rose was shocked. He had only ever spoke the name of the place where he was born once before in her presence, as part of the answer to her question about his language.

"They murdered the Racnoss!" the Empress shouted.

"I warned you. I gave you a chance. You did this," the Doctor spoke. He reached into another pocket and pulled some of the baubles from the trees at the reception out of it.

"No! No! Don't! No!" the Empress screamed.

The Doctor's eyes met Rose's briefly before he threw the baubles into the air and used the remote to direct them. The little festive looking explosives surrounded the Empress of the Racnoss, and a few went down the hole. Explosives in place, he looked right at Rose then and gave her a tiny nod. Rose tried not to show her relief. From the way he was acting, Rose was sure that he wanted the red, spider-like woman to think that he was going to kill them all.

"No! No! My children! No! My children! My children!" the Empress screamed in terror as another bauble went down the hole. Rose heard it go off right after it went in the hole.

"Doctor! You can stop now!" Donna yelled up at the Time Lord.

"It's okay, Donna. He's just putting on a show right now. I've got him," Rose whispered in Donna's ear.

"My children!" yelled the Empress as one of the baubles dived at one of her legs. "Transport me!" she ordered, disappearing a second later.

When she left, Rose could hear the rest of the Racnoss climbing up the sides of the giant hole and the legs of one of the-not quite as little as she had hoped-spider people came up over the edge of the hole, with the rest of it following quickly. Blimey, they could move. That's when the flaw in her plan hit her. There was no way they had time to get back to the TARDIS and stop the Racnoss before they killed. Maybe before they killed them.

"MOVE IT BLONDIE!" Donna shouted and shoved Rose towards the stairs. Her shout broke the spell Rose had been under and she instantly complied. The Doctor met them at the bottom of the stairs and helped Donna move up them faster with her hurt ankle.

"Run!" the Doctor yelled when they got to the top of the stairs. They moved as fast as they could, Rose and the Doctor helping Donna along. They got back to the TARDIS as quickly as possible, and the Doctor pulled them out of Time.

"But what about the Empress?" Donna asked, breathless.

"Oh, she'll be no problem," the Doctor replied. "She's used up all her Huon energy. She's defenceless. Here, let me take a look at that," the Doctor said, gesturing to Donna's ankle.

"The babies?" Rose squeaked.

"Will be just fine, Rose. I've pulled us out of time so we're able to get everything set up and back before they can get free," the Doctor assured her as he examined Donna's ankle.

Rose relaxed. There for a moment, she was sure she'd just doomed everyone on Earth to being eaten. She wasn't sure what would have happened if Donna hadn't broken her out of her fear. That wasn't the first time she'd stared down an oncoming monster and had to be pulled back, but it was extremely rare.

"Good news, it's not broken. I'll have ya good as new in no time," he told Donna. He adjusted his sonic and used it on her ankle. "Setting 3457. Very special setting. I made it for the jeopardy friendly woman over there," he joked. When he was done, he wrapped her foot up.

"Keep that wrapped for a day, to restrict movement," he instructed as he stood back up.

"Doctor's order's," Rose added cheekily.

"I guess you are that kind of Doctor," Donna said, looking down at her, now wrapped, foot. She slid it back into her shoe.

"I have my moments," the Doctor replied as he walked back to the console. He moved the scanner around and started hitting buttons and twisting dials. He typed on the keyboard, then moved a few levers. The entire time, he murmured to himself.

"What's he doing?" Donna asked.

"He's doing something that will save both the newborn Racnoss and Earth," Rose told her.

"How?" Donna wondered.

"I don't really know," Rose admitted. "I asked him if it were possible before we came to get you, and he told me he might be able to work something out with the huon energy. Best I can figure, he's gonna use it to pull them into the TARDIS like you were pulled."

"Oh, that is good!" the Doctor enthused. "You are brilliant, and you are brilliant!" he shouted, pointing at each woman.

Rose immediately got up and looked at the screen, as if she could read it. "Got it figured out then?" she asked.

"Oh, yes," he said happily, still typing.

"What are you going to do with them?" Rose asked.

"There's this planet in the Kinchona system, it's massive and has got the perfect environment for them. There's no sentient life, and is heavily populated by these giant bugs that are a menace anywhere else. This small group can live their lives!"

"But the spider thing, she said the Time Lords killed all the Racnoss," Donna argued. "Wasn't there a reason?"

The Doctor hung his head and fiddled with a knob on the console. Rose knew he needed a moment to gather himself.

"It was the Dark Times, before the Reformation. The Racnoss were killed because they devoured planets. The last nail in the coffin was when the Time Lords got rid of huon particles," he answered after a few seconds.

"Should we be letting them loose on the universe?" Donna asked.

"Everything deserves a chance at life," Rose softly spoke. The Doctor shot her a look of pride. "But how do we keep them from doing it again?" she queried.

"With so few particles, low numbers, and no elders to pass on their technology, the Racnoss won't be able to spread like they had before, at least not for a very long time. This group will likely stay primitive and low in number," the Doctor told the women, who both relaxed at that.

"Okay then, Donna you get to see another planet!" Rose said excitedly. She then stopped herself. "If you want," she added.

"Um, actually, we can't take Donna home yet," the Doctor informed them apologetically. "Once we land-"

"We're part of events," Rose and the Doctor said together. She'd heard that lecture before. He nodded at her with a small smile.

"I'm sorry, Donna, but we can't risk taking you home until we know the Racnoss are dealt with," the Doctor finished. The ginger woman merely nodded at him in acknowledgement.

"Hold on, wait," Donna spoke up suddenly. "If these spider things-"

"Racnoss," the Doctor interjected immediately.

"Rac-noss," Donna enunciated sarcastically, "Are being pulled in here, won't they just wind up in here with us, like I did?"

"Oh, you are good!" Rose praised, earning a smile from the woman.

"Nah, I've got it set up so that they go to a special room and are held in stasis until it's time for them to leave," the Doctor replied confidently.

"Hold on," Rose instructed Donna when the Doctor motioned for Rose to go to her usual spot at the console.

The flight was bumpy, but not as bumpy as it usually was. With a lot of shouting out directions, the Doctor and Rose pulled the TARDIS out of the Vortex and materialized back in the corridor under the Thames. The Doctor ran to the scanner as soon as he wasn't needed anymore for piloting the ship and started typing furiously. He called out the names of a few buttons and levers, and this time, Rose knew them all.

Suddenly the ship shuddered violently, and a flashing light came on. The Doctor glanced at it and rubbed the coral part of the console. "It's okay, Old Girl," he whispered.

The shaking stopped, and everything was quiet.

"Is that it?" Donna asked.

"You've got 'em all, yeah?" Rose added.

"Yes. I've got them all," the Doctor replied, looking at the scanner to be sure. "No, we're not finished yet," he added. "We're still on Earth."

After flicking a few more switches, the TARDIS began to dematerialize once more, sending them on their way to another planet. Rose watched Donna's face carefully to make sure their new passenger wasn't panicking and found that she seemed to be a bit excited about all of it now. Maybe they could ask her along after this was over?

The TARDIS landed with a hard bump, knocking Rose back from the console where she had been holding on, and making Donna stand up from the jump seat where she had been perched. The Doctor immediately went back to the keyboard, typing so fast that Rose couldn't make out what he was doing, if she had understood it in the first place.

The ship make a loud groaning noise, and a shower of sparks flew from the console. The floor vibrated fiercely for a moment, and then all was silent.

"Okay, NOW is it done?" Donna wondered once the silence hit.

"Oh, we have to go take a look, Donna!" Rose shouted excitedly, running towards the doors.

"Wait!" the Doctor called after her, but it was too late. Rose had already thrown open the doors and stepped outside. What greeted her was a beautiful, lush rainforest. Thick, wide leaves hung from towering trees. They had landed next to a small stream.

Just as Donna took a step outside, a giant dragonfly buzzed past them loudly, making the ginger jump nearly into the Doctor's arms.

"What the bloody hell was that?!" she shrieked.

"Looked like a Megamiidae," the Doctor said mildly, with his hands in his pockets.

Rose had jumped as well, but landed farther from the TARDIS, in the edge of the stream. She stepped back out, kicking water from her one, very wet shoe.

"That was a new pair, too," she despaired, looking down at her sodden foot. She took the wet shoe off and dumped the water out of it. Just as she popped it back on, one of the Racnoss, about knee high, popped out of the dense jungle on the other side of the stream.

"Beautiful place, but it looks like it's time to go," the Doctor said. Rose didn't have to be told that, she was already on her way to the TARDIS.

The spider started racing towards them. Before they could get the doors closed, they watched as a huge fish leapt from the stream and crunched it whole. Donna grimaced in disgust at the sight and edged deeper into the ship. Without another word, the Doctor began to pilot them back to Earth.

"Okay then, Chiswick, London, Earth, Solar System, December 24th," the Doctor announced as he set the dials to take Donna back home.

The TARDIS parked across the road from Donna's house. The trio emerged, Donna first. She hesitated at the door and looked around to be sure of where she was before she stepped out.

"Here you are, home sweet home," the Doctor said, "safe and sound." He stuck his hands into his pockets as he regarded the cookie cutter houses along the street.

"Am I safe now? From those particle things?" Donna wondered.

The Doctor pulled out his sonic and scanned her. "All the Huon particles have gone. No damage, you're fine."

"Yeah, but apart from that, I missed my wedding, lost my job and became a widow on the same day. Sort of," she lamented.

"I couldn't save him," the Doctor replied apologetically.

"He deserved it," Donna declared, automatically. Rose and the Doctor both gave her an 'are you sure?' look.. "No, he didn't," she amended. "I'd better get inside. They'll be worried."

"After the day you had, I'm sure they are," Rose agreed.

"Best Christmas present they could have," the Doctor said.

"Family," Rose finished. She watched Donna's parents hug each other inside with sadness, remembering how she'd never hug her mother again.

"Oh, no. I forgot you hate Christmas," the Doctor remembered.

"Yes, I do," Donna agreed..

"Even if it snows?" the Time Lord questioned, as if he had some treat.

It turned out he did. The Doctor reached inside the doorway to press some hidden control. A small burst of energy shot from the top of the time machine into the sky and little white flakes began to fall all around them.

"Oh my god!" Rose gasped as she danced around happily.

"I can't believe you did that!" Donna added disbelievingly.

"Oh, basic atmospheric excitation," the Doctor told them smugly, as if he did that sort of thing all the time.

"Merry Christmas," Donna said as she tried to warm herself in the cold night air.

"And you. So, what will you do with yourself now?" the Doctor asked curiously.

"Not getting married, for starters. And I'm not going to temp anymore. I don't know. Travel. See a bit more of planet Earth. Walk in the dust. Just go out there and do something," she replied thoughtfully.

The Doctor and Rose looked at each other questioningly and came to a decision.

"Well, you could always…" the Doctor began.

"What?" Donna wondered.

"Come with us!" Rose finished excitedly, taking the Doctor's hand and bouncing beside him.

"No," she responded quickly.

"Okay," the Doctor told her, trying to hide the pain of rejection that he felt whenever someone turned him down. Rose had been the only one that he went back to ask a second time, not having been able to get her off of his mind.

"I can't," Donna insisted.

"No, that's fine," he told her, kicking at the ground absently with his trainers, making dark streaks on the snow covered street.

"But why, Donna?" Rose asked her.

"No, but really. Everything we did today. Do you live your life like that?" she questioned pointedly.

"Not all the time," the Doctor denied.

"Trouble's just the bits in between," Rose quoted.

"I think you do. And I couldn't," Donna said, calling them both out on their bluff. Trouble wasn't every trip, but the bits in between were big bits.

"You've seen it out there, stood on another planet, and it was beautiful, yeah?" Rose tried to get her to come once more. She liked Donna.

"And it's terrible. Those huge alien bugs and things were flying everywhere and you just strolled away like it was nothing. And then you made it snow. I mean, you scare me to death," Donna explained.

"Right," the Doctor admitted, knowing that his lifestyle wasn't for everyone.

"Tell you what I will do, though. Christmas dinner. Oh, come on," she waved them in.

"I don't do that sort of thing," the Doctor said.

At the same time, Rose also declined. "I can't, not yet," she explained.

"You might as well, because Mum always cooks enough for twenty," Donna goaded.

The Doctor looked at Rose with a question in his eyes. She answered with the tiniest head shake.

"Sorry, Donna. It's just. I think we could use a quiet evening for now," Rose told her regretfully.

Donna nodded and the pair walked back into the TARDIS, closing the doors behind them. The sound of the engines began to echo through the dark, snowy street.

"Doctor! Rose!" Donna shouted.

The engines stopped, and the Doctor poked his head out of the doors. Rose following a second later.

"Blimey, you can shout," the Doctor complained.

"Nice lungs," Rose complimented.

"Am I ever going to see you again?" she wondered.

"If we're lucky," he replied cheekily.

"You never know," Rose added.

"Yeah. Thanks then, Donna. Good luck. And just be magnificent," the Doctor advised, knowing that she had potential to spare.

"I think I will, yeah," she replied and walked back towards her house.

Once the doors of the TARDIS closed, the Doctor asked Rose, "You wanna give her a surprise?"

"She's already seen materialization, Doctor," Rose reminded him.

"Well, then, I'll have to do one better, won't I?" he replied.

Outside the TARDIS, Donna watched as the blue police box shaped ship rose into the sky, leaving a streak of sparkling energy behind it.

"Oh, you think you're so impressive," Rose told the Doctor, smirking.

"I am so impressive, Rose Tyler," he insisted. "Now, how about some hot chocolate and a movie?"


	5. Everyone Leaves Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're so glad you love this!
> 
> The song mentioned is "Lucky Number" by Lena Lovich from 1979. It was originally supposed to be in the episode "Tooth and Claw," but it was replaced due to being too expensive for the BBC to get.

The Doctor brought Rose a mug of hot chocolate and sat down on the sofa next to her. She threw the blanket she had draped over her over his lap too, and he put his arm on the back of the couch in invitation. Rose leaned against him, and he wrapped his arm around her and started the movie. Rose blew on her hot chocolate and watched the opening credits of a version of _Steel Magnolias_ from 2367.

She eventually fell asleep to the Doctor's rambling about facts from the original story. She usually fell asleep during these movie nights while he was talking, and if he were any other man, he'd be worried about whether she found him boring or not. He wasn't another man, he was the Doctor, and he knew there was no way he was boring.

He picked her up gently and took her to her own bed. She'd get a crick in her neck if she stayed on that couch.

He watched her sleeping for a bit, worried about her. She'd hidden away the first couple of days after what happened at Torchwood Tower, and he'd given her space, knowing that she was grieving. The last time they'd dealt with the other universe, she'd lost Mr. Mickey, who'd chosen to leave. She'd had her mother for support then. Now, she had no one. She was all alone.

Like him.

XxXxXxXx

The next morning, relatively speaking, Rose met the Doctor in the console room. She couldn't see him, but she could hear the sonic's warbling hum over the lightly playing music.

" _...There's something in your eyes gives me a wild idea. I never want to be apart from you my dear. I guess it must be true, my lucky number's two …"_ a woman's voice proclaimed. The song seemed familiar to Rose, but she couldn't place it.

"Punk," Rose commented fondly in a low voice, walking around to the other side of the console where the Doctor was. Before she could see him, she heard a thump and a word that sounded like some kind of alien curse.

"So what's that one mean, then?" she asked the Doctor, who looked up at her, rubbing the back of his head. "I need to know for my collection of alien curse words. Gotta get 'em right."

"And how would you know if that was a curse?" the Doctor asked her, eyebrow raised.

"You just whacked yourself on the head, and it's not translated. Yeah, it's a curse," Rose told him cheekily. "Need a hand?"

"Nah, I'm good. Just about finished with this harness," he answered, plugging a few wires into a big connector. He ran the sonic over them, and the panel she stood by, which had previously been dark, lit up. The Doctor looked over it, and smiled.

"Now, where do you want to go?" he asked. "Future? Past? Another planet? We could finally do Barcelona. There's a planet in the Terrius Conglomeration called Hijakalimarikatasa. They have a festival that's something like Chinese New Year here, except instead of dragons, they have kalim, which sort of looks like a furry octopus. So, where?" he finished enthusiastically.

"Home," Rose answered. Before she could say why, the Doctor had a fleeting look of panic that disappeared so quickly, she wasn't entirely sure it was ever there in the first place. "I need to get things out of the apartment before someone else goes in there and takes it all. Also, it's probably a good idea for me to be seen, so people know I'm not dead. Be a bit awkward, that, being dead and showing up suddenly," she babbled nervously. She fidgeted with her earring, unable to look at him for a moment. "Then we can go to Hijack-whatever that was."

When she did look up, he was over by the monitor, setting coordinates. "Hi-jak-a-lim-a-ri-ka-ta-sa," the Doctor repeated, separating each syllable so she could get it right. When she did, he smiled and said, "There ya go!"

She could kiss that man for the temporary distraction.

"Okay! Powell Estate; two, no, three days after-anyway." He then started moving around the console. The flight was calmer than usual, with just a bit of shaking, and Rose put her hand on the console and sent her thanks to the ship. She felt a bit of warmth at the edges of her consciousness and at the same time, the coral she touched warmed up a little, but it didn't get hot.

She stepped out into the park they were at a few days before while trying to figure out the ghosts that weren't ghosts. She looked around. The day fit her mood perfectly. Heavy clouds overhead. It looked like it was going to cut loose raining any moment.

The Doctor shut the door behind them, grabbed Rose's hand, and walked toward Bucknall House.

When they stepped through the door of number 48, Rose half expected to hear her mother running her gob with the phone cord stretched out to wherever she happened to be in the flat. The flat was so quiet, the ticking of a clock on the living room wall the only noise.

She looked over to the Doctor, who was staring at the phone with a sad expression. He looked over at her, gave her hand a squeeze, and moved over to the mantle, picking up a picture of her and her mother. She knew the two of them only pretended to hate one another. Their opinions of each other had changed after his regeneration.

The two started loading up boxes. Rose went to put away pictures, when she picked one up of her when she was about fourteen years old and her mother. Her Mum was behind her, with her arms wrapped around her and she was trying to kiss Rose's cheek. She was trying to squirm away.

She sat down on the couch's arm and stared in guilt at the picture. She'd always forgotten to phone her mother, and now she couldn't. Her mother was worried about her, and now she'd always worry.

"Hot tea, coming through!" the Doctor called out just before he left the kitchen. When he saw the state she was in, he put the tea down and came over to her, wrapping one arm around her side.

"I'm sorry," he said. His apology made her a bit angry.

"Don't," she told him. "Don't apologize. Not for this. I- Can I have a moment?" she asked. She wanted to be alone where no one could see her cry. She had blubbered all over him the day before.

"Yeah, sure," he responded in understanding. He took his mug of tea and walked out the door, leaving her to herself.

XxXxXxXx

The Doctor drank his tea on the balcony and watched the humans below. Some people were cleaning up the worst of the mess left by the Cybermen just three days before. Others were going about their daily lives. Almost everyone looked like they had lost someone. The thought of how many people all over the planet had died made him sick.

All because of those damned Daleks and Cybermen.

He looked up at the dreary sky, which looked even more like it was about to open up than it had earlier. With a sigh, he straightened up and went to go to the TARDIS. He'd move it into the flat. The stuff Rose was packing up wouldn't get wet that way, and it'd save an awful lot of work.

He stepped inside the TARDIS and walked over to the console. Instead of putting the coordinates in, he dropped onto the worn leather seat beside it. He thought about Rose and her mother; how she'd never see her mother again. Jackie Tyler was pregnant. Rose had a brother or sister she'd never meet.

And, despite what Rose said, it was all his fault. She'd come back for him, and he didn't know why.

Oh, he knew _why_ , had seen it plain as day when he'd been in her mind. There was no way he could misinterpret how she felt anymore. But he didn't understand why she felt that way, or why she insisted on coming back. She was alone because of him, grieving for her mother. She could have had it all: her mother; her father back, even if it was a different version of him, he certainly seemed similar enough; Mickey. Mr. Mickey would have treated her right.

The thought of Rose with _him_ made him want to hit something. It didn't matter that he didn't have the right. It didn't matter that she was with Mickey before she ever knew him. It hit something primal in him. Something he had thought long gone before he'd met her. Something he shouldn't be feeling.

This needed to stop. It'd gone too far. He couldn't give Rose everything she deserved. She'd left behind the people who could. She'd left them for him. Why? He couldn't give her a home. He couldn't give her a family.

He was going to lose her. It was inevitable. She'd decide to leave, like many had, or she'd die. Their life was too dangerous to suggest otherwise. If she was lucky, really lucky, she'd grow old. She was 21. Maybe 50-60 years? A few precious decades, in the best case scenario, then it'd hurt so much more.

He should have lost her already. It was a strange twist of fate that allowed her to stay. A combination of her own stubbornness and some odd bits of architecture that she was able to grab onto at the last moment.

He should let her rebuild her life. She had everything she needed to make a good start. A place to live, fully furnished. An established identity in that time. Brains enough to use that to get her going. She was alone, but many people move somewhere else where no one knows them. Here, he knew that some people knew her name, at least.

No, she wasn't alone, he remembered. She had a few friends. He remembered meeting Keisha, whose brother had been on the _Ascendant_. He'd heard Rose going on about a mate, Shareen, and he knew her grandmother on her mother's side and some aunts and cousins were still alive.

Ignoring the angry warning from the TARDIS, he steeled himself, stood up straight and walked to the console. He could do this. It'd hurt like hell for a while, but in the long run, it was better. Quickly, like a plaster. He wouldn't have to stand over her grave one day. He wouldn't have to watch her become frail.

" _...this is really seeing the future. You just leave us behind. Is that what you're going to do to me?"_ her voice sounded in his mind. Her voice had nearly cracked when she'd said it. His mind then turned to how he found her in the living room of her mother's flat. If he knew Rose, and he did know her, she started crying as soon as he left.

He sighed and dropped his head in defeat. "No. Not to you," he said aloud. The same promise he'd made back then. He couldn't just leave her behind, not now. Not when she'd just lost everyone else who she was really close to.

He started flicking switches.

XxXxXxXx

Rose picked herself up off the couch and hurriedly put the rest of the photos in the box that sat on the coffee table, then went to the bathroom and washed the tears away. When she looked presentable again, if a bit red and puffy eyed, she picked up the box of photos and one other with alien stuff and objects from other times she'd brought home for her mother to take to the TARDIS. There were going to be a lot of trips. Maybe she could get the Doctor to move the timeship closer.

On the way down, she ran into a neighbor, Brittany. She didn't want to talk to her. Brittany was one of the ones that had teased her as a child. So, of course, Brittany wanted to talk to her.

"Hey, Rose!" she called out as if they were best friends. "I haven't seen you around in a while. Wondered how you were."

"I'm fine, Brit," Rose replied shortly, wanting the woman beside her to leave her alone. She couldn't lead her to the TARDIS, even if she did want to talk to her.

"Haven't seen your mum in a few days, either, " Brittany said conversationally, unknowingly, or maybe knowingly twisting the metaphorical knife in further. Rose stopped and glared at her.

"She's gone," Rose told her, trying to will the woman to go away. Instead, she got a wide eyed look.

"Jackie's gone?"

"Yes, so if you don't mind, I'm busy right now," Rose told her in a cold tone as she backed out the door at the bottom, indicating the boxes she held.

"I'm so sorry, Rose," Brittany told her as the door closed between her and the other woman. Rose was glad that she hadn't gone through too. Now she could get to the TARDIS.

"Why. Won't. You. Move!" she heard as she stepped through the doors of the time ship. Each word was punctuated by the smack of the rubber mallet. She put the boxes down and walked over to the console in confusion. "You stubborn-" his voice stopped at the sight of her. "Hello, Rose," he said.

"What's going on here?" Rose asked.

"Just trying to get the TARDIS to move!" he said brightly. He was too happy looking for the moment.

"Why?" she wondered suspiciously as the rotor started moving, and the sound of dematerialization began without the Doctor pressing buttons.

"Oh, I'm moving it up to the flat, so we didn't have to carry things so far," the Doctor answered. "And things won't get wet. It's started to rain outside," he added.

"Oh, good," Rose replied. "That's a great idea. How comes she started on her own?" she wondered.

The Doctor glared at the console and said, "Someone's being stubborn."

"Oh, cause it sort of looked like you were going somewhere else for a minute," Rose accused with a laugh, like that was incredulous.

"What?!" he gasped, knowing that he had considered doing exactly that and wondering just how she came to know him so well. "No, no, no. Wouldn't dream of it! Just didn't want you getting all wet."

The way he denied it sealed her suspicions for her. "Oh my god, you were going to leave!" she nearly shouted and punched him in the arm.

The Doctor held his arm where she punched it and explained, "Okay, I admit I had thought about it for a second, just a second, though. I wasn't going to-" he cut himself off when she slapped him in the other arm. "Quit hitting me!"

"You were going to leave me behind! All on my own after everything that happened?" she gasped and buried her face in her hands. "I promised you that I'd stay and you'd just dump me here?"

"But I didn't!" he defended himself. "I promised I wouldn't, and I didn't."

Rose sniffled loudly and wiped her face on her sleeve. His hearts broke as he considered how upset he'd made her for even thinking about behaving the way he had for the last several centuries. He'd left people behind before; left his own granddaughter behind, in fact. But Susan was left behind so she could be with the man she'd fallen in love with, and he'd almost left Rose mostly alone.

"Please, Doctor. Please promise you won't leave without at least talking to me first?" she asked shakily through her tears.

He looked at her sadly for a moment and sighed. Pulling her into a hug, he nodded against her hair. "Alright, Rose, I promise. Let's get the Old Girl up to the flat so we can pack up the rest of those boxes."

When Rose nodded, the Doctor went over to the console and landed the ship. She went over to the door and looked out, making sure they were actually where they were supposed to be. They were, and she stepped out with the Doctor right behind her. She was a bit nervous now to let him out of her sight, in case he suddenly changed his mind.

It was going to be a long day.

XxXxXxXx

After taking care of the flat, the two of them went to Hijakalimarikatasa and were able to enjoy the celebration there. The trip was uneventful, as far as the events they usually came across. There was no danger, and nothing they needed to fix.

The next morning, the Doctor met Rose in the kitchen for breakfast and she gaped at him for a moment.

"What are you wearing?" she asked. She hadn't seen him wear anything other than his brown pinstripes ever since he regenerated. Even when he was the last him, it was variations in colours of his jumper, not a completely new outfit.

"It's, well, blue is the… was the colour of mourning on Gallifrey. And with your mother not being around for you to visit with her anymore, I just felt… you know, out of respect and all…" he stuttered as he tried to explain. He scuffed the toe of his new red Chucks on the floor.

Rose was touched. She went over to him and wrapped her arms around his waist that was now clad in blue pinstripes. Up close, she noticed that the stripes on the suit were a deep red that matched his Chucks.

When Rose went to her room later to get ready for the day, she noticed a deep blue leather jacket lying on her bed. She wasn't sure if it was from the Doctor or the TARDIS, or maybe both, but she smiled sadly and decided that she liked this particular tradition from Gallifrey.


	6. Tylers And Jones Pt1

The Tylers and Jones

Rose and the Doctor were strolling down a busy London street, eating chips. As they walked past the hospital, however, the Doctor paused and started looking around curiously.

"What is it? Something wrong?" Rose asked him worriedly.

"It's like there's a static charge? A huge static charge building up around here," he told her and took out his sonic screwdriver to scan the area. He stopped when he was pointing at the hospital. "Plasma coils. We'd better check it out," the Doctor said with a sigh.

"Kitchen staff?" Rose suggested, not really wanting to do that again.

"No, I think that you may have just come down with some rather severe stomach cramps," the Doctor replied, waggling his eyebrows.

"Oh, not stomach cramps! That's so Star Trek IV!" Rose protested. "Do you know what the first question they ask when you're a female and you go into hospital for stomach cramps is?"

"Umm, no not really," he replied, ruffling his hair. "And actually, in Star Trek IV, it was immediate post-prandial, upper abdominal distension."

"The first question they ask is, 'Could you be pregnant?'" she told him pointedly, ignoring his babble. "And other unpleasant things about that area."

He sputtered, not quite sure how to respond to that line of questioning. His mouth opened and closed, silently as he tried to come up with another suggestion.

"Exactly," she said, glad she'd gotten through to him. "How about a severe migraine?" she suggested. "My cousin Mo's been in hospital over those before."

"That is a very reasonable suggestion, Rose. Headaches it is," he agreed and took her hand to lead her into the hospital. Inside, she sat down while the Doctor went to get the clipboard to admit her.

He sat next to her and started filling out the paperwork without having to ask her any questions. She tried to get a look at what he was writing down in his spidery handwriting, but he told her, "You've got a migraine, Rose, you should keep your eyes closed for the light sensitivity."

She sighed in frustration, but sat back in the uncomfortable waiting room chair and closed her eyes. She was surprised out of a rather interesting daydream a few minutes later when the Doctor slipped something onto her finger.

She looked at it. On her finger sat a simple, golden band and matching band with a small diamond. At least she thought it was a diamond. It fit her perfectly, and she wondered why he was carrying around a wedding set in his pocket. A glance at his hand showed that he had a matching band on, a little thicker than hers.

"What's this about, Doctor?" she whispered and held up her left hand questioningly.

"If they're going to let me stay with you, I've got to pretend to be your husband. Rose and John Tyler," he replied with a wink.

"Okay," Rose replied. She couldn't help but stare at the shining rings, wondering if there was a possibility that he would ever use them with someone for real or if this kind of acting was something he'd done many times in the past with his companions. Did John Smith come about through his adventures with Sarah Jane Smith?

She leaned back, remembering that she was supposed to be having an incredibly bad migraine and waited for the nurse to call her name.

The Doctor threaded his fingers through hers, playing the part of the loving husband. The two waited for what seemed like hours. Probably was hours, if she remembered her other trips to hospital right. It'd been a long time since she had broken her arm on the playground, but she remembered the pain vividly, and waiting for ages for it to end.

Eventually, they were taken into a shared hospital room and looked at by one of the doctors. They gave her some painkillers and assured her that they would be back to check her again during morning rounds. The Doctor helped her to dispose of the strong medication without actually taking any of it and they waited around for another hour or so before he went to investigate.

While the Doctor was off investigating, Rose saw a man dressed in a black, leather suit with a darkly tinted biker's helmet on. Her first thought was that he was some kind of courier, but the fact that he was still wearing the helmet inside the building struck her as odd.

She pushed the covers off and started to follow the man. Just as she noticed an identically dressed man meeting up with him, one of the nurses stepped in front of her.

"Where do you think you're going?" she asked harshly.

"I was just looking for the loo," Rose replied innocently and after following the woman's directions, made her way back to her bed with a grumble.

A couple of minutes later, the Doctor returned. "Any luck?" she asked him in a low voice.

"Nah. Can't seem to find the source of those plasma coils," he sighed in frustration as he dropped into the seat next to her bed.

"Well, I saw something kinda odd," she told him, grinning. "There was this really strangely dressed man, yeah? Black leather, head to toe," she began.

"And what may I ask is strange about leather?" the Doctor questioned.

"You never wore leather trousers to my knowledge, Doctor," she replied. "Anyway, so completely black leather and a really dark tinted helmet on with the visor down, inside. And he's walking down the hall and there's another one! Dressed just like him. I wanted to follow but the nurse caught me."

"Well," the Doctor started. "Could be nothing, but sounds like a Slab. Slaves really, but they always travel in pairs like that. Might mean there's an alien hiding in the hospital somewhere. Nice work, Lewis!"

Rose hummed happily at his praise and gave him a tongue-touched grin. "What's next then, Sarge?" she asked, playing along with their familiar game.

Just then, a group of medical students came in, and they had to play the patient and the husband again.

"Now then, Mrs. Tyler, a very good morning to you. How are you today?" the oldest among the group, obviously the doctor, asked.

"Oh, not so bad. Still a bit, you know, ugh," she responded vaguely.

"Rose Tyler, admitted yesterday with a severe migraine. Jones, why don't you see what you can find? Amaze me."

The young woman pulled out her stethoscope to check Rose's vitals, but couldn't seem to find anything unusual. She looked into Rose's eyes as well, checking her iris contraction.

"Have you recently had a head injury?" she asked.

"No, nothing like that," Rose answered as though it were killing her to talk.

"As time passes and I grow ever more infirm and weary, Miss Jones," Doctor Stoker moaned impatiently.

"Er, I don't know. Light sensitivity?" she suggested.

"That is a symptom, not a diagnosis. And you rather failed basic techniques by not consulting first with the patient's chart," the older man chastised as he picked up the clipboard from the end of the bed. When the medical doctor touched the metal clip on the chart, it shocked him, and he dropped the chart on Rose's feet.

"That happened to me this morning," the woman called Jones spoke up.

"I had the same thing on the door handle," one of the other interns added.

"And me, on the lift," a third one piped up.

"That's only to be expected. There's a thunderstorm moving in and lightning is a form of static electricity, as was first proven by. Anyone?" Doctor Stoker prompted, hoping that one of his students would prove to be well educated in some way.

"Benjamin Franklin!" the Doctor piped up suddenly.

"Correct," Stoker said, glad someone knew that.

"My mate, Ben. That was a day and a half. I got rope burns off that kite, and then I got soaked," the Doctor said with a grin directed at Rose.

"Oh, that was a laugh!" Rose replied happily, forgetting she was supposed to be having a major migraine for a second.

"Quite," the doctor said with disapproval.

"And then I got electrocuted!" the Doctor exclaimed.

"Never do that again," Rose told him. "You scared the daylights out of me."

"Moving on. I think perhaps a visit from psychiatric. And next we have…" they heard him say as he guided the students on to the next patient. The medical student that had checked over Rose looked back at the pair, smiling and shaking her head as she moved on.

Rose found herself once again stuck in bed, as the nurse outside her room kept glaring at her everytime she tried to get up. The Doctor had managed to go off exploring again, much to her dismay. She hated being left behind. As much as she hated it, she'd have rather been kitchen staff - again.

The Doctor came back an hour or so later and plopped into the chair next to her bed. "I just can't find it. Those plasma coils have to be around here somewhere. Couldn't find your Slabs either, though they're probably off on some errand for their master at this point," he told her.

"Why's everyone fussing about rain?" they overheard the medical student that they'd met earlier say into her mobile as she walked toward the window.

"It's going up," said a nurse who was staring out the window already.

Suddenly, the whole building began to shake violently and the Doctor dove to cover Rose's body with his own, protecting her from a piece if the ceiling that came down on them. When the shaking finally stopped, he whispered to her, "I'll get the curtain, best get yourself dressed and ready to run."

Rose hopped up and grabbed her clothes from the personal effects bag. She put them on quickly and tried not to think about the Doctor standing right there while she was getting dressed. This was no time for modesty.

"What the hell was that?" Jones shouted.

"Are you alright?" the nurse asked her.

"I think so, yeah. It felt like an earthquake, or…" she replied.

"Martha? It's night. Look. It was lunchtime," the nurse interrupted in shock.

"It's not night," she told her as she took in the rest of the landscape outside.

The Doctor and Rose listened carefully to their conversation, taking in all the information to help them figure out what was going on.

"But it's got to be. It's dark," the nurse denied.

"We're on the moon," the other woman said in awe. The Doctor and Rose looked at each other quizzically as Rose was doing her buttons up on her shirt.

"We can't be!" the nurse exclaimed.

"We're on the moon. We're on the bloody moon!" Jones nearly yelled. Her voice didn't sound scared, though, it sounded excited.

As the staff began to worry, the patients did as well. They suddenly had several people getting out of bed to look out of the windows and with all the medical equipment around, someone was likely to hurt themselves.

"Alright now, everyone back to bed, we've got an emergency but we'll sort it out. Don't worry," Jones told them with authority. She reached up to open the window, but was stopped by the nurse.

"Don't! We'll lose all the air," she said, nearly panicking. Rose had just finished lacing her trainers and joined the Doctor by the end of the bed, taking his hand.

"But they're not exactly air tight. If the air was going to get sucked out it would have happened straight away, but it didn't. So how come?" she reasoned. The Doctor swiped the curtain aside suddenly.

"Very good point. Brilliant, in fact. What was your name?" he asked her.

"Martha," she responded, unsure as to why he was asking.

"And it was Jones, wasn't it? Well then, Martha Jones, the question is, how are we still breathing?" the Doctor prompted.

"We can't be," the nurse said, heading into a full blown panic.

"Obviously we are, so don't waste my time," the Doctor chastised.

"Oh, just like we can't be on a planet in orbit of a black hole?" Rose interrupted him quietly with a look, reminding him of a time he stood there and looked at a so-called impossible sight and denied it.

"That, Rose… is beside the point. Martha, what have we got? Is there a balcony on this floor, or a veranda, or…" he asked.

"By the patients' lounge, yeah," Martha replied, seeming a little awe-struck by this man taking control of the situation.

"Fancy going out?" the Doctor asked her.

"Okay," Martha responded.

"We might die," he warned her.

"We might not," she answered more confidently.

"Good. Come on. Not her, she'd hold us up," he said as he tugged Rose after him, following Ms. Jones toward the balcony.

"Rude," Rose chastised.

At the balcony, they opened the glass doors and stepped out. All three looked around at the sight before them.

"We've got air. How does that work?" Martha asked incredulously.

"Just be glad it does," the Doctor replied.

"You take me to the nicest places, Doctor," Rose said and leaned her head against his shoulder. He hummed happily and squeezed her hand.

"I've got a party tonight. It's my brother's twenty first. My mother's going to be really, really…" Martha trailed off as the weight of the situation began to sink in.

"You okay?" Rose asked her.

"Yeah," she replied too quickly.

"Sure?" the Doctor checked as well.

"Yeah," Martha repeated.

"You could go back in," Rose offered.

"No way. I mean, we could die any minute, but all the same, it's beautiful," Martha breathed out.

"Do you think?" the Doctor asked her.

"Absolutely," Rose sighed.

"How many people want to go to the moon? And here we are," Martha said in awe of her surroundings.

"Standing in the Earthlight," the Doctor added.

"Ooh, that's poetic of you," Rose giggled. The Doctor gave her a wink.

"What do you think happened?" Martha asked.

"What do you think?" the Doctor questioned back, curious as to what she would say.

"Extraterrestrial. It's got to be. I don't know, a few years ago that would have sounded mad, but these days? That spaceship flying into Big Ben, Christmas, those Cybermen things. I had a cousin. Adeola. She worked at Canary Wharf. She never came home," Martha told them.

"I'm sorry," the Doctor replied, knowing only too well how many lives were lost that day. He had almost lost Rose as well.

"Yeah," Martha said softly.

"We were there, in the battle," Rose told her. "I lost my Mum." The Doctor gave her a sad look, and she knew the guilt that was going through his head..

"I promise you, Mr. and Mrs. Tyler, we will find a way out. If we can travel to the moon, then we can travel back. There's got to be a way."

"It's not Tyler. That's not my real name. Though it is hers," the Doctor spoke up.

"Who are you, then?"

"I'm the Doctor," he replied with a smile.

"Me too, if I can pass my exams. What is it then, Doctor Tyler?" she asked.

"Nope. He's just the Doctor," Rose told her..

"How do you mean, just the Doctor?" Martha asked.

"Just the Doctor," he answered.

"What, people call you the Doctor?" Martha questioned.

"Yup," Rose answered.

"Yeah," the Doctor confirmed.

"Well, I'm not. As far as I'm concerned, you've got to earn that title," Martha said harshly.

"Oi! He's more than earned it, thank you," Rose responded angrily. The Doctor placed a hand on her shoulder, urging her to calm down in his defence.

"Well, I'd better make a start, then. Let's have a look. There must be some sort of," he picked up a pebble nearby and tossed it out into the distance. It bounced off of something and sparked the energy surrounding them. "Forcefield keeping the air in," he proclaimed.

"That's not good," Rose mumbled, looking back inside the building full of people in horror.

"But if that's like a bubble sealing us in, that means this is the only air we've got. What happens when it runs out?" Martha wondered.

"How many people in this hospital?" the Doctor asked.

"I don't know. A thousand?" Martha guessed offhand.

"One thousand people. Suffocating," the Doctor said darkly.

"Oh my god, we've got to get everyone back somehow, Doctor," Rose gasped.

"Of course we will. We always do," he reassured her with a smile.

"Why would anyone do that?" Martha wondered.

"Head's up! Ask them yourself," the Doctor replied as three giant space ships began to descend just outside of the force field perimeter. Several rows of troops began to march out of the ships and through the barrier towards the hospital.

"Aliens. That's aliens. Real, proper aliens," Martha gasped disbelievingly at the sight.

"Judoon," the Doctor informed her. He looked angry and Rose wondered what these Judoon were capable of.

He took her hand and pulled her along to the upper level of the atrium, Matha following on their heels. Once there, they watched the Judoon walk into the hospital. The humans freaked out at their entrance, and many of them tried to hide.

The leader took off his helmet to reveal that he was basically a rhinoceros. At least that was what he looked like, Rose thought. The leader spoke in his own language, a combination of very short, one syllable words that all seemed to have a long O sound in them. At the same time, she also heard, in English, an order being given to the other Judoon to search the hospital.

That was odd, she thought. She was hearing the language as it was meant to be spoken and the translation. Must be because of the distance from the TARDIS, she thought.

One of the young medical students walked up to the lead Judoon. "Er, we are citizens of planet Earth. We welcome you in peace," he said nervously.

Suddenly, the lead rhino-like alien grabbed him, pushed him against a wall, and shined a blue light in his face.

"Please don't hurt me. I was just trying to help. I'm sorry, don't hurt me. Please don't hurt me," the medical student begged.

The Judoon played a recording of the medical student's last words on his little device, then plugged it into a port on his armour.

"Language assimilated. Designation Earth English. You will be catalogued," the leader said, in the same barking way that he spoke his own language. He then shined a light onto the man's forehead, and the device made a beeping sound.

"Category: Human," the Judoon declared. He made an x mark on the man's hand with the same device he had used to record his voice and check his species.

"Catalogue all suspects," he ordered. Immediately, the other aliens started cataloguing the rest of the people in the room.

"Oh, look down there, you've got a little shop. I like a little shop," the Doctor commented quietly.

Rose grinned at him in remembrance of their visit to the hospital on New Earth. "No cat people around this time, yeah?"

"Never mind that. What are Judoon?" Martha questioned urgently.

"They're like police. Well, police for hire. They're more like interplanetary thugs," the Doctor explained.

"And they brought us to the moon?" Martha asked.

"Neutral territory. According to galactic law, they've got no jurisdiction over the Earth, and they isolated it. That rain, lightning? That was them, using an H2O scoop," he told her.

"What are you on about, galactic law? Where'd you get that from? If they're police, are we under arrest? Are we trespassing on the moon or something?" Martha wondered.

"No, but I like that. Good thinking. No, Rose worked it out earlier that there's an alien hiding in the hospital. He or she has a couple of servants. They were dressed up in black leather and motorcycle helmets. And the Judoon are cataloguing humans. That means they're after something non human, which is very bad news for me," the Doctor explained, squeezing Rose's shoulder in thanks for working out part of the problem.

"Why?" Martha asked in confusion. The Doctor just raised his eyebrow at her in answer.

"He's not human," Rose told her.

"He's not human?" Martha repeated incredulously.

"Yep," Rose replied.

"Oh, you're kidding me. Don't be ridiculous," Martha denied. When the Doctor and Rose just looked at her, she balked, "Stop looking at me like that."

"Come on then," the Doctor said as a troop of the Judoon started moving up the stairs.

"Prepare to be catalogued," one of the Judoon officers informed the people in the hallway.

"Do what they say. All they want is to shine this light thing. It's all right. They're not going to hurt us. Just listen to them," the medical student told them, hoping to keep everything peaceful.

One of the more panicky patients grabbed a clay pot from nearby and smashed it on the head of one of the Judoon officers. The giant rhino-like alien turned to him, completely unphased by the attack.

"Witness the crime. Charge, physical assault. Plea, guilty. Sentence, execution," he stated plainly and pulled out a weapon to vapourize the man instantly.

"You didn't have to do that!" the medical student argued fearfully.

"Justice is swift," he replied and returned to cataloguing the humans by scanning them and marking their hands with a black X.

The Doctor, Rose, and Martha entered a records office, and the Doctor sat down at a terminal, pulling out his sonic screwdriver.

"They've reached third floor. What's that thing?" Matha wondered.

"Sonic screwdriver," the Doctor replied, almost absently.

"Well, if you're not going to answer me properly," Martha scoffed.

No, really, it's called a sonic screwdriver," Rose told her. "Really useful tool."

"What else have you got, a laser spanner?" Martha asked, clearly still not believing them.

"Oh, don't remind him about that! He was pouting for days!" Rose groaned.

"I did, but it was stolen by Emily Pankhurst, cheeky woman," the Doctor grumbled before refocusing on the computer in front of him. "Oh, this computer! The Judoon must have locked it down. Judoon platoon upon the moon," he babbled. The Doctor ran his hands through his hair in frustration. When they left his hair, it was sticking up at all angles and it looked like he'd just gotten up. Rose had an urge to run her fingers through his hair for him.

"Because we were just travelling past. I swear, we were just wandering. Getting some chips and heading back. We weren't looking for trouble. Honestly, we weren't, but we noticed these plasma coils around the hospital, and that lightning, that's a plasma coil. Been building up for two days now, so I checked Rose in. I thought something was going on inside. It turns out the plasma coils were the Judoon up above."

"But what were they looking for?" Martha questioned.

"Whoever brought those slab things in here. You said they were slaves, yeah?" Rose responded, looking over his shoulder at the computer screen.

"Something that looks human, but isn't," the Doctor specified as best he could.

"Like you, apparently," Martha almost accused.

"They're not looking for him," Rose defended. "Motorcycle servant thingies remember?"

"Like me. But not me," the Doctor said.

"Haven't they got a photo?" Martha wondered.

"She's got a point," Rose commented. "Of course, they might not have a picture."

"Well, might be a shape-changer," the Doctor told them both.

"Whatever it is, can't you just leave the Judoon to find it?" Martha questioned.

"If they declare the hospital guilty of harbouring a fugitive, they'll sentence it to execution," the Doctor informed her. So, that was why he had such a dark look on his face when he'd first seen them.

"All of us?" the medical student asked.

"Wouldn't be too hard for them either if they can just pick up the hospital and dump it here," Rose sighed.

"Oh yes. If I can find this thing first. Oh! You see, they're thick! Judoon are thick! They are completely thick! They wiped the records. Oh, that's clever," the Doctor groaned in frustration.

"What are we looking for?" Martha asked.

"I don't know. Say, any patient admitted in the past week with unusual symptoms. Also, they would have been visited frequently by two people dressed all in black leather. That should stand out. Maybe there's a back-up?" he wondered and checked the computer more thoroughly.

"Just keep working. I'll go ask Mister Stoker. He might know," Martha told them and left the room.

When Martha left the room, the Doctor continued working on the computers. He had Rose move a cord one time, and performed percussive maintenance twice, not that it would help any. Finally, he shouted, "Aha!" just as the records started coming up on the screen. "Finally! Thick Judoon didn't erase the backups!"

He practically ran out the door, and almost literally into Martha.

"I've restored the back-up," the Doctor cheered happily.

"I found her," Martha gasped, slightly out of breath.

"You did what?" the Doctor questioned. He grasped Rose's hand beside him, ready to run at the first sign of danger.

They saw the two slabs that Rose had spotted earlier break down Mr. Stoker's office door and burst into the hallway.

"Run!" the Doctor shouted and headed straight for the staircase.

They ran down the stairs, but saw a group of Judoon heading their way and left the stairwell on the next floor. One of the slabs was close behind them, running at full speed. The three of them ran into radiology and the Doctor sonicked the lock behind them to give them more time. The Doctor went behind the window and the two women followed his lead.

"When I say now, press the button," he instructed before he began to work on the x-ray unit with his sonic.

"But I don't know which one," Martha argued, but Rose had already grabbed the manual nearby and was skimming through it.

"Then find out!" he shouted over his shoulder.

"Now!" the Doctor yelled.

Rose hit the button and the women watched as both the slab and the Doctor went see through. Rose froze, wondering what she'd done. That was an awful lot of radiation.

"What did you do?" Martha asked once the machine was shut off and they entered the room. The slab was lying motionless on the floor by his feet.

"Increased the radiation by five thousand per cent. Killed him dead," the Doctor replied plainly. He looked proud of himself.

"But. But," Rose said, unable to get anything else out for a moment.

"But isn't that going to kill you?" Martha asked, getting the words that were stuck in Rose's throat out.

"Nah, it's only roentgen radiation. We used to play with roentgen bricks in the nursery. It's safe for you to come out. I've absorbed it all. All I need to do is expel it. If I concentrate I can shake the radiation out of my body and into one spot. It's in my left shoe. Here we go, here we go. Easy does it. Out, out, out, out, out. Out, out. Ah, ah, ah, ah! It is, it is, it is, it is, it is hot. Hold on."

The Doctor jumped about and did a very weird dance, shaking his foot. It looked mad, and Rose wanted to laugh at the ridiculousness, cry in relief, and punch the Doctor for scaring her.

"Done," he declared as he threw one of his red converse in the bin.

"Oh my god!" Rose gasped in relief.

"You're completely mad," Martha insisted.

"You're right. I look daft with one shoe," he replied and promptly removed the other one, dumping it into the bin as well.

"I'm so glad you're alright," Rose cried and wrapped him in a tight hug.

"Of course I'm alright! Barefoot on the moon. How about it, Rose? Care to join me?" he teased as he backed out of the hug, but kept one arm over her shoulders. He could tell she was still shaken by the idea that she might have caused another regeneration.

"So what is that thing? And where's it from, the planet Zovirax?" Martha queried.

"It's just a Slab, like I said before. They're called Slabs. Basic slave drones. See? Solid leather, all the way through. Someone has got one hell of a fetish," the Doctor explained as he examined the body on the floor.

"But it was that woman. Miss Finnegan. It was working for her, just like a servant," Martha told them.

"My sonic screwdriver," the Doctor whined as he took his destroyed screwdriver out of the x-ray machine. It was completely burnt and unusable, but he held it gingerly as he showed Rose its remains.

"Oh, can you make another one?" Rose asked.

"She was one of the patients, but…" Martha continued, ignoring his plight.

"Yeah, I can, but- My sonic screwdriver!" the Doctor whined, ignoring Martha and looking like he'd lost a loved one.

"She had a straw like some kind of vampire," Martha told him, pacing the room as she tried to remember the gory details of what she had seen.

"I loved my sonic screwdriver," the Doctor continued lamenting. Rose just put her hand on his shoulder and let him work it out for a moment.

"Doctor?" Martha nearly shouted, trying to get him to pay attention to what she was telling him.

"Sorry," he said. He tossed the fried sonic over his shoulder into the corner suddenly, as if he were over it already.

"So much for that," Rose joked, rolling her eyes.

"You called me 'Doctor,'" he said, somewhat shocked.

"Anyway? Miss Finnegan is the alien. She was drinking Mister Stoker's blood," Martha told them quickly.

"Funny time to take a snack. You'd think she'd be hiding," the Doctor said. An idea came to him. "Unless? No. Yes, that's it. Wait a minute," he babbled as he worked it out. "Yes! Shape-changer. Internal shape-changer. She wasn't drinking blood, she was assimilating it!"

"So, she looks the same, but she scans like another species? Doesn't explain why they can't use a picture, but you did say they were thick," Rose reasoned.

"Yup, if she can assimilate Mister Stoker's blood, mimic the biology, she'll register as human. We've got to find her and show the Judoon. Come on!" the Doctor called and pulled Rose along after him, as usual.

The trio hid behind a water cooler as they watched the other Slab march down the hallway past them.

"That's the thing about Slabs. They always travel in pairs," the Doctor complained.

"What about you two?" Martha questioned.

"What do you mean, what about us?" Rose wondered.

"Are you like his assistant or something?" Martha suggested.

"Something like that, I guess," Rose answered. She hated being called his assistant.

"What kind of qualifications do-"

"Oh. Humans. We're stuck on the moon running out of air with Judoon and a bloodsucking criminal, you're asking personal questions? Come on," he grumbled, not really wanting to define his relationship with Rose to this woman.

"I like that. Humans. I'm still not convinced you're an alien," Martha said as she followed them down the hall. They walked straight into a group of Judoon and the Doctor was scanned immediately. The scanner sounded an angry beep in response.

"Non-human," it declared.

"Shit," Rose exclaimed.

"Oh my God, you really are!" Martha said, looking at the Doctor with wide eyes.

"And again!" the Doctor called out as he ran the other way. He held tightly to her hand as they ran around a corner. A Judoon's blast barely missing them. Once they got up the stairs, they were in a corridor where a lot of people were slumped on the floor.

"They've done this floor. Come on. The Judoon are logical and just a little bit thick. They won't go back to check a floor they've checked already. If we're lucky," the Doctor told them as they walked through the corridors. Patients were lying on the floor and one of the staff was giving someone oxygen from a tank nearby.

"How much oxygen is there?" Martha asked.

"Not enough for all these people. We're going to run out," the nurse replied.

"How are you two feeling? Are you alright?" the Doctor asked, looking at Rose for any signs of trouble.

"I'm running on adrenaline," Martha told him.

"Welcome to our world," Rose responded with a nod. "I'm fine, Doctor. Nothing we haven't done before, yeah?"

"What about the Judoon?" Martha questioned.

"Nah, great big lung reserves. It won't slow them down. Where's Mister Stoker's office?" he asked.

"Lovely," Rose grumbled. Seemed they had an advantage over the people from the hospital.

"It's this way," Martha told them, leading them to the office.

"She's gone. She was here," Martha insisted when they entered the office. Only the body of the deceased doctor was on the ground.

The Doctor knelt by him and checked him over to confirm his theory about what they were dealing with. "Drained him dry. Every last drop. I was right. She's a plasmavore," he told them sadly.

"What's she doing on Earth?" Martha wondered.

"Probably hiding from the police," Rose replied.

"Hiding. On the run. Like Ronald Biggs in Rio de Janeiro," he babbled. "What's she doing now? She's still not safe. The Judoon could execute us all. Come on."

"Wait a minute," Martha called out. She then bent down and closed Mr Stoker's eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, we have a couple of chapters with Martha. She won't be coming along, but we tried to be nice about it. One of the big differences we're making with this rewrite is that most of them have Rose AND Martha, but this one won't. The Doctor doesn't need Martha this time. Please let us know what you think!!


	7. Tyler and Jones Part 2

Tylers and Jones: Part Two

The Doctor looked up and down the corridor, trying to make a plan. "Think, think, think. If I was a plasmavore surrounded by police, what would I do?"

"Find a getaway?" Rose wondered.

The Doctor turned around and looked at the sign that directed people to the MRI. "Ah. She's as clever as me. Almost," he declared.

"Wow, that's high praise comin' from you," Rose said with amusement.

They could hear crashing and screaming from down the hall, along with the words, "Find the non-human. Execute." The Judoon were coming.

"I need you two to stay here. I need time. You've got to hold them up," the Doctor told them hurriedly.

"How do we do that?" Martha asked him skeptically. The Doctor started looking back and forth between Rose and Martha.

"Just forgive me for this. It could save a thousand lives." His gaze then settled on Rose. "It means… it means… oh," he sighed and pulled Rose to him for a fierce kiss, leaving her breathless and slightly wobbly.

When the Doctor pulled back, he put his forehead to hers and said, "Please, Rose. Stay here."

"Oh, I see what kind of qualifications you have," Martha spoke up, causing the Doctor to pull away from Rose and glare at her before running off down the hallway.

Finally making it to the MRI room, he found the plasmavore already working on the machine. He prepared himself for his usual 'stupid human' act.

"Have you seen them?" he said in a high pitched, I'm a human, I can't believe what I'm seeing, and I'm half scared to death voice. "There are these things. These great big space rhino things. I mean, rhinos from space. And we're on the moon! Great big space rhinos with guns on the moon. And I only came in for my bunions, look. I mean, all fixed now. Perfectly good treatment. The nurses were lovely. I said to my wife, I said I'd recommend this place to anyone, but then we end up on the moon. And did I mention the rhinos?" he babbled.

"Hold him," the woman ordered. A Slab came out from behind the door and grabbed him. Oh, he hoped this worked.

XxXxXxXx

The Judoon soldiers marched up to face Rose and Martha. Martha stood confidently in front of them, while Rose was a little dazed from the kiss still. The lead rhino ordered one behind him, "Find the non-human. Execute."

"Now listen, I know who you're looking for. She's this woman. She calls herself Florence," Martha began to explain, but the creatures ignored her and ran their scanner over her body.

It beeped once and it said, "Human." Then marked her hand with a big X.

It then turned to Rose and scanned her as well, prompting a slightly different beep to sound.

"Human," it declared, then stopped and looked down at it. "Wait. Non-human traits suspected. Non-human element confirmed. Authorise full scan." Rose was pushed up against a wall by the Judoon and scanned all over. "What are you? What are you?" it repeated.

Rose was terrified. Why was this Judoon scanning her as non human? Then it hit her like a bolt of lightning. That was why he kissed her, so he could transfer some of his DNA to her and confuse the Judoon long enough for whatever plan he had.

XxXxXxXx

"Er, that, that big er machine thing. Is it supposed to be making that noise?" the Doctor asked, trying to buy himself a little more time with his usual method of babbling them into submission. It wasn't helping though as the Slab held him still.

"You wouldn't understand," she told him dismissively.

"But isn't that a magnetic resonance imaging thing? Like a ginormous sort of a magnet? I did magnetics GCSE. Well, I failed, but all the same," the Doctor argued.

"The magnetic setting now increased to fifty thousand Tesla," she said with a nod and a smile that was slightly frightening.

"Ooo, that's a bit strong, isn't it?" he commented.

"It'll send out a magnetic pulse that'll fry the brain stems of every living thing within two hundred and fifty thousand miles. Except for me, safe in this room," Florence explained.

"But er, hold on, hold on, I did geography GCSE. I passed that one. Doesn't that distance include the Earth?" he asked her worriedly.

"Only the side facing the moon. The other half will survive. Call it my little gift," she replied with another smile.

"I'm sorry, you'll have to excuse me, I'm a little out of my depth. I've spent the past fifteen years working as a postman. Hence the bunions. Why would you do that?" he questioned innocently.

"With everyone dead, the Judoon ships will be mine, to make my escape," she explained, revealing her motive.

"No, that's weird. You're talking like you're some sort of an alien," he said disbelievingly, as if she had to be joking.

"Quite so," she admitted.

"No!" the Doctor said, like that was the greatest thing ever.

"Oh, yes," she replied primly.

"You're joshing me!" he exclaimed.

"I am not," she told him. He wondered if she was enjoying this reveal.

"I'm talking to an alien? In hospital? What, has the place got an ET department?" he babbled.

"It's the perfect hiding place," she informed him. "Blood banks downstairs for a midnight feast, and all this equipment ready to arm myself with should the police come looking." Her little old lady act had started disintegrating and he could see the killer that he knew she was.

"So, those rhinos, they're looking for you?" he asked, starting to set the trap.

"Yes. But I'm hidden," she told him smugly

"Right. Maybe that's why they're increasing their scans," he said.

The smug look disappeared from the plasmavore's face. "They're doing what?" she asked.

Time to bait the trap. "Big chief rhino boy. He said, no sign of a non-human, we must increase our scans up to setting...two?" he asked, as if he had no clue what that meant.

She looked like she was making a decision. "Then I must assimilate again," she announced when she decided.

"What does that mean?" he asked, knowing exactly what it meant.

"I must appear to be human," she told him, as if that were as easy as slipping on different clothes.

"Well, you're welcome to come home and meet the wife. Rose would be honoured. We can have cake," he offered endearingly.

"Why should I have cake? I've got my little straw," she told him, holding out what looked like a regular, bendy drinking straw.

"Oh, that's nice. Milkshake? I like banana," he commented, again hoping to stall for time.

"You're quite the funny man. And yet, I think, laughing on purpose at the darkness. I think it's time you found some peace. Steady him!" she ordered the Slab harshly.

The slave forced him to his knees in front of Florence and tipped his head back to expose his neck to her.

"What are you doing?" he squeaked, even though he knew it was coming sooner or later. This had seemed like such a good idea before, but he was feeling a bit worried now. What if the Judoon didn't get here quite fast enough to stop her from killing him?

"I'm afraid this is going to hurt. But if it's any consolation, the dead don't tend to remember," she said as she stuck her straw into his neck and began drinking his blood.

XxXxXxXxXxXx

The Judoon finished his scan and examined the device. Rose watched curiously. She knew she'd come up human, but she wondered if they would recognize the Doctor's species.

"Confirm human with genetic mutation. Traces of facial contact with non-human. Continue the search," he ordered the other officers. Placing a small booklet in alien writing in her hands, he announced, "You will need this."

"What for?" Rose gasped, trying to understand what they had meant by genetic mutation.

"Compensation," he grunted and marched past.

"No! Hang on!" Rose shouted and ran after them. "We know where to find the plasmavore!"

Martha and Rose led the Judoon to the MRI room and they burst through the door. The sight before them turned Rose white as a sheet. The Doctor was on his knees, held there by the Slab creature, but the thing dropped him to the floor as the mercenaries entered the room.

"Now see what you've done. This poor man just died of fright," Florence exclaimed.

"No!" Rose shouted, rushing to the Doctor's side. "No, no, no, you can't be!" The Doctor laid still, and a little pale.

"Scan him. Confirmation. Deceased.

"No, he can't be. Regenerate!" Rose yelled in the Doctor's face.

"Stop. Case closed," one of the Judoon declared.

"But it was her. She killed him. She did it. She murdered him," Martha told the rhino-like aliens.

Rose sat on the floor next to the Doctor, sobbing and trying to will the golden energy she'd seen once before to start.

"Judoon have no authority over human crime," one of the Judoon declared as it went to turn away and leave..

"But she isn't human! She's not! And neither is that thing!" Rose shouted as she pointed to the slab beside her.

"Oh, but I am. I've been catalogued," she denied, holding up her hand that had been marked by the Judoon earlier.

"But she's not! She assimi- Wait a minute. You drank his blood? The Doctor's blood?" Martha argued, then realized why the Doctor had done this. She grabbed one of the Judoon scanners and pointed it at the plasmavore.

"Oh, I don't mind. Scan all you like," she responded confidently.

The machine gave an odd beep and the officer announced, "Non-human."

"But, what?" she gasped.

"Confirm analysis," he ordered and another Judoon repeated the scan.

"Oh, but it's a mistake, surely. I'm human. I'm as human as they come," she insisted.

"He gave his life so they'd find you," Martha whispered in awe.

"Confirm. Plasmavore, charged with the crime of murdering the child princess of Patrival Regency Nine," the Judoon growled.

"Well, she deserved it! Those pink cheeks and those blonde curls and that simpering voice. She was begging for the bite of a plasmavore," Florence shouted angrily, dropping the innocent act completely.

"Then you confess?"

"Confess? I'm proud of it! Slab, stop them!" she shouted.

Before the slave could follow her order, the Judoon fired and disintegrated it. "Verdict, guilty. Sentence, execution."

Florence used the momentary distraction to dash behind the barrier in the room. She flicked the final controls on the MRI to set her plan in motion. "Enjoy your victory, Judoon, because you're going to burn with me. Burn in hell!" she yelled. Four of the Judoon fired at her through the partition, incinerating the plasmavore and leaving a melted hole in the glass.

"Case closed," one of them said.

Rose was trying to check the Doctor's pulse, having given up hope of regeneration. Maybe he didn't need it? She put her head down to his chest, but she couldn't hear either one of his hearts.

"But what did she mean, burn with me? The scanner shouldn't be doing that. She's done something," Martha told them.

"Scans detect lethal acceleration of monomagnetic pulse," the lead Judoon informed everyone in the room.

"Well, do something! Stop it!" Martha shouted, catching Rose's attention finally.

"Our jurisdiction has ended. Judoon will evacuate." The rhino-like aliens turned and started leaving.

"What? You can't just leave it. What's it going to do?" Martha pleaded.

The Judoon ignored her. "All units withdraw," it ordered into the communicator.

"Someone's got to be the Doctor," Rose muttered to herself and got up to look at the malfunctioning machine. "There has to be an off switch or something." It wouldn't save them from suffocating in the hospital, but she could save the people on Earth from being killed by the bloody thing.

"You can't go! That thing's going to explode and it's your fault!" Martha shouted down the hallway at the retreating aliens.

Martha returned to the MRI room and saw Rose trying to figure out what to do about the machine. Being a doctor-in-training, she decided to do what she was trained to do and knelt down to try and help the Doctor. Not finding a heartbeat or breathing, she began performing CPR.

After a few rounds of it, Rose shouted over to her, "He has two hearts!"

She looked at him oddly, then shrugged and changed her technique to give chest compressions for two hearts instead of one. Martha refused to give up, but was feeling lightheaded. She gave her last breath and collapsed beside him.

Rose finally discovered a giant power cord next to the loudly humming machine and began to pull on it with every ounce of strength she had left. Her head was throbbing and she felt horribly dizzy, her heart ached with the thought of her Doctor lying dead on the floor just the other side of the wall. Finally, the cord came loose and with a huge shower of sparks, everything powered down.

The Doctor took a gasping breath, just as Rose was about to pass out from the lack of oxygen. He looked around, and his eyes settled on Rose.

"Unplugged," Rose got out, barely over a whisper. Then she passed out. He looked around the room and saw that Rose had indeed solved the problem of the overloading MRI machine. She was amazing, as usual.

The Judoon spaceships took off as the oxygen was running out. The Doctor carried Rose as he went to look out the window at the retreating space ships.

"Come on, come on, come on, come on, please. Come on, Judoon, reverse it," he whispered. Just then, it began to rain against the window. "It's raining, Rose. It's raining on the moon!" he exclaimed happily and rested his cheek against her hair.

XxXxXxXxXx

Later, outside the hospital, it was a scene of controlled chaos. There were ambulances lined up, ready to take patients to the other hospitals in the area, people being given minor treatments right on the sidewalk, and reporters and onlookers all around the scene. The medical student who was the first person to talk to the Judoon was giving an interview with one of the local stations.

A young woman, Martha's sister ran up to her. "Martha! Oh, God! I thought you were dead! What happened? It was so weird, because the police wouldn't say. They didn't have a clue. And I tried phoning. Mum's on her way, but she can't get through. They've closed off all the roads."

The Doctor and Rose walked past all of them towards the TARDIS. Everyone was safe again and clean-up was underway. That was generally their cue to leave. When they entered, the Doctor ran up to the console to send the ship into the vortex. He figured that Rose might need to rest for a while.

Rose sat quietly on the jump seat for several minutes, fidgeting with the edge of her new jacket. "Maybe Martha should come along too?" Rose suggested to the Doctor.

"Why's that?" the Doctor wondered.

"Well, like she said, Doctor. You should have a smarter assistant than me," she mumbled, kicking her trainer against the grating. "Someone who knows things like how to get a heart started and stuff."

"Rose, look at me," he insisted and grasped her upper arms. "You are completely brilliant. You always have all of these mysteries figured out while I'm still wandering around aimlessly. Don't confuse knowledge for smart." He stepped back and hit a couple of buttons on the console.

"Besides," he added. "I only take the best, and I've got you." Rose looked him in the eyes, remembering when he was a different man and had said the same thing. This was one of those moments where she was reminded that her Doctor in the leather jacket with ice blue eyes was still there.

"I want to thank Martha for saving you," Rose told him after a moment. "I didn't get a chance to earlier."

"Your wish is my command," he told her, a little cheekily.

"Be careful with that," Rose teased him weakly.

She helped the Doctor fly the TARDIS to wherever he was taking it. Rose hoped it wasn't back in that mess at the hospital. When the TARDIS materialized, she stepped out into an alley, the Doctor right with her.

They could see Martha with her family outside a pub nearby. They were having some kind of argument and a few people left rather angrily. Rose caught Martha's eye and gestured for her to join them away from the others.

"I just wanted to thank you, Martha, for saving the Doctor's life back there," Rose told her sincerely. "I didn't get a chance before, at the hospital."

"It's my job," Martha replied with a shrug.

"Um, that thing you did, what was that called again?"

"CPR?" Martha asked at the same time the Doctor said the same thing.

"Yeah, that's it. I'll have to remember to read up on that," Rose told her. "Useful, that is. Thanks." Rose didn't know what else to say to the woman.

"Why don't you go get some rest, Rose? I wanted to thank Martha as well," the Doctor suggested before things could get awkward. With a tired nod, Rose went back into the TARDIS. He turned back to the medical student and looked her over appraisingly. "Thank you, Martha Jones. You helped save a lot of people today, including me."

"Is she really your assistant? Because that kiss…" Martha wondered.

"Was a genetic transfer to confuse the Judoon's scanners," he replied, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. But oh, what a genetic transfer.

"Don't suppose you could use another assistant?" Martha suggested. "One who's trained in emergencies?"

"Well, Rose did manage to shut down the overloading MRI machine, despite her distress over my predicament. And she had figured out that we were dealing with an alien on the run before the Judoon even showed up today. I appreciate the offer, Martha, but I think you'll do a world of good and save a lot of lives as a doctor right down here on Earth," the Doctor explained.

Martha looked a little sad about it, but perked up. "I can't go zooming about the universe anyway, I've got bills in the morning."

The Doctor decided not to tell her about the time aspect.

"Good luck, Martha Jones. Be brilliant," the Doctor told her. He stepped into his little blue box and dematerialized, leaving an amazed medical student behind.


	8. The Shakespeare Code Pt 1

"Have I got a surprise for you, Rose Tyler! Somewhere we've never been before. How would you like to meet Shakespeare?" the Doctor suggested excitedly.

"Really? That sounds amazing! I'll go get changed!" she squealed and ran down the hallway to find something more appropriate to wear in Elizabethan times. There was no need to repeat what had happened with Queen Victoria after all.

When she arrived in the wardrobe room, the TARDIS had brought a rack of several appropriate dresses forward. They were all relatively plain compared to the paintings she had seen from the time, but since they were likely going to see a play with the commoners and not to visit with the queen herself, she figured that the TARDIS knew best. She pulled the white chemise over her head and found a dress with lovely dusty rose coloured embroidery over the bodice. The flowers were delicate and beautiful. While the rest of the dress was a bit of a brown colour, the overall appearance looked lovely with her complexion. She took a few moments to pull her hair up similarly to when they had met Charles Dickens and slipped on some comfortable shoes.

Rose skipped happily back to the console room to join the Doctor. Of course, he was wearing his usual brown suit, so she decided to tease him a little, "Did you change your jumper?"

"Why Rose Tyler, I'll have you know…" he began but trailed off when he turned to look at her and his mouth fell slack.

"Is something wrong?" she wondered and looked down at herself.

"What? No, no, no. You look… you look beautiful," he told her.

"For a human, yeah?" she smirked as he continued staring at her.

Before he had a chance to reply, the TARDIS jolted to the side and the Doctor flicked the last few switches to land them safely. Back to his normal, manic self, the Doctor bounced down the ramp, grabbing his coat along the way. He held out his arm for Rose as he opened the door.

The pair stopped outside to look around for a moment. They both jumped out of the way however when they heard a voice from above them call out, "Gardez l'eau!"

"Right. Before indoor plumbing," Rose said, making a face.

"Yup!" he replied and started leading her down the street. "So, we are 'round about 1599. And really, Elizabethan England, not so different from your time, minus the toilets of course. Look over there. They've got recycling," he teased as they watched a man shovelling horse manure off the street to be used elsewhere.

Rose noticed a few men chatting with each other by a barrel of water and decided to play along with his little game. "Water cooler moment?" she suggested with her tongue in teeth grin.

The Doctor laughed and they walked past a man loudly proclaiming predictions of the future, "And the world will be consumed by flame!"

"Global warming," he told her with a nod and a smirk. "Oh, yes, and entertainment. Popular entertainment for the masses."

He pulled her along by the hand as he dodged and ducked them through the crowded street towards his goal. Rose laughed at his antics, familiar with his frantic behaviour.

"Oh, yes, the Globe Theatre! Brand new. Just opened. Through, strictly speaking, it's not a globe, it's a tetradecagon. Fourteen sides. Containing the man himself," the Doctor crowed happily.

"Mr. William Shakespeare as promised? Think you really managed to pilot us where you wanted to go this time?" Rose taunted him, though she was fairly sure that they were in the right place, if only because the TARDIS had so accommodatingly given her appropriate clothing.

"Oi! I get us where we're planning to go! Most of the time," he added the last part with a mumble while rubbing the back of his neck. "Now, Dame Rose, would you kindly accompany me to the theatre?" he asked formally, his arm held out expectantly.

"Why yes, Sir Doctor, I think I will," she responded with her best haughty tone and took his arm as they entered the Globe laughing.

They watched as the actors performed Love's Labour's Lost and cheered loudly at the end along with the rest of the audience. After all of the performers had taken their bows, the writer himself came out on stage to address them. He bowed graciously.

"He doesn't quite look like the paintings I've seen of him," Rose whispered to the Doctor.

"Genius. He's a genius. The genius. The most human human there's ever been. Now we're going to hear him speak. Always he chooses the best words. New, beautiful, brilliant words," the Doctor told Rose in awe as he looked at the man on stage.

"Ah, shut your big fat mouths!" William Shakespeare shouted loudly and the audience laughed with him.

"Oh, well," the Doctor sighed.

"Aw, come on," she nudged his shoulder. "This is even better than meeting ol' Charlie boy!"

"You've got excellent taste, I'll give you that. Oh, that's a wig," Shakespeare teased the crowd. "I know what you're all saying. Love's Labour's Lost, that's a funny ending, isn't it? It just stops. Will the boys get the girls? Well, don't get your hose in a tangle, you'll find out soon. Yeah, yeah. All in good time. You don't rush a genius."

William suddenly jerked stiffly and stared into the distance for a moment. The Doctor and Rose exchanged a brief look, but he continued a moment later as if nothing had happened, so they dismissed it.

"When? Tomorrow night. The premiere of my brand new play. A sequel, no less, and I call it Love's Labour's Won!" The crowd cheered.

When they were leaving with the rest of the crowd, Rose asked, "Now, I don't know much about Shakespeare, but I've never heard of Love's Labour's Won. Is it just not as well known as the others?"

"No, you're right. Love's Labour's Won is called the lost play," the Doctor lectured. "It doesn't exist, only in rumours. It's mentioned in lists of his plays but never ever turns up. And no one knows why".

"Do _you_ know why?" she questioned.

"No, no I don't," he admitted. "Are you up for a little bit of investigation, Lewis?"

"Do you even have to ask, Sarge?" she said with a grin.

They made their way to the Elephant, which was known to be the place where William Shakespeare stayed when he was in town. They climbed the stairs and could hear the man himself talking inside the first room at the top of the stairs.

"I've just got the final scene to go. You'll get it by morning," he told the man sitting across from him as the Doctor and Rose opened the door to the room.

"Hello! Excuse me, not interrupting, am I? Mister Shakespeare, isn't it?" the Doctor questioned with a friendly smile.

"Oh, no. No, no, no. Who let you in? No autographs. No, you can't have yourself sketched with me. And please don't ask where I get my ideas from. Thanks for the interest. Now be a good boy and shove…" he argued but trailed off as he took in the other person entering the room.

"Hey, nonny nonny," Shakespeare said when he looked up at the intruder and spotted Rose by the Doctor's side. "Sit right down here next to me. You two get sewing on them costumes. Off you go." He waved the two men who were holding bundles of cloth off.

"Come on, lads. I think our William's found his new muse," an older woman told the two men as they stood up. .

"Sweet lady," Shakespeare said. The woman and two men left the room

The Doctor scowled at the man. He had taken Rose's arm and helped her to sit in the chair next to his own. He took out his psychic paper and held it up as their identification.

"I'm Sir Doctor of Tardis and this is my companion, Dame Rose of the Powell Estate," he told him, placing a hand on Rose's shoulder and glaring at him.

"Interesting, that bit of paper. It's blank," William told him with a smirk that said he knew exactly why this strange man was glaring at him.

"What?" Rose gasped and turned to whisper to the Doctor. "Why's the psychic paper not workin' on him?"

"Well," he began, rubbing the back of his neck in thought. "That proves it. Absolute genius. Pretty much the only reason that it wouldn't work."

"Psychic? Never heard that before and words are my trade," he commented, clearly having overheard them despite their lowered voices. "Who are you exactly? And more's the point, who is this lovely lady that you've brought with you?"

"Well, Dame Rose insisted that we must come and see you after attending such a marvellous play this evening," the Doctor explained.

Suddenly, a man burst in, wearing robes, gold, and a feather in his hat. He looked angry.

"Excuse me! Hold hard a moment. This is abominable behaviour. A new play with no warning? I demand to see a script, Mister Shakespeare. As Master of the Revels, every new script must be registered at my office and examined by me before it can be performed," he informed him, a bit pompously, Rose thought.

"Tomorrow morning, first thing, I'll send it round," Shakespeare told the man in a disinterested tone.

"I don't work to your schedule, you work to mine. The script, now!" the Master of the Revels ordered.

"I can't," the playwright admitted.

"Then tomorrow's performance is cancelled!" the other man declared.

Rose noticed the young servant girl paying very close attention to the conversation. She stared at the new man for a moment, then left the room quickly.

"I'm returning to my office for a banning order. If it's the last thing I do, Love's Labour's Won will never be played!" he threatened and stormed off.

"Does that seem a little, I don't know, simple to you?" Rose asked in a low voice a moment later.

"Yeah, our lives are never that straight forward," he replied quietly and, right on cue, they heard a man screaming from the street. The Doctor instinctively grabbed Rose's hand and they were out the door in the blink of an eye, Shakespeare following close behind them.

"Help me!" a woman shouted from down the street.

They saw the Master of the Revels standing there. A large amount of water was spewing from his mouth.

"It's the Revels bloke," Rose realized.

"What's wrong with him? Leave it to me. I'm a doctor," the Doctor said as he rushed over to the man.

Rose looked around at the scene, trying to see if anyone else was acting strangely. This didn't seem natural, which meant that someone was likely behind it. She noticed the young servant from inside standing nearby. She had something in her hands, but Rose couldn't quite see what it was as she was jostled by the fearful crowd in the street.

The Doctor checked the man over but couldn't see any immediate cause for what was happening to him. With another gurgle of water, he suddenly seized and collapsed.

"I've never seen a death like it. His lungs are full of water. He drowned and then, I don't know, like a blow to the heart, an invisible blow," the Doctor mumbled when Rose rushed to his side.

"Good mistress, this poor fellow has died from a sudden imbalance of the humours. A natural if unfortunate demise. Call a constable and have him taken away," he told the innkeeper nearby.

"Yes, sir," she replied, but was stopped in her tracks when the servant stood in front of her.

"I'll do it, ma'am," the girl told her and left with what Rose felt was a suspicious smile.

"Ok, Doctor, now I know that an imbalance of the humours is a bunch of nonsense. So, what really happened to him?" Rose questioned.

"This lot still have got one foot in the Dark Ages. If I tell them the truth, they'll panic and think it was witchcraft," he told her.

"Yeah, okay, so what was it then?" she wondered.

"Witchcraft," he responded simply.

"Okay, then," Rose commented and followed the Doctor.

They went back upstairs to Shakespeare's room. The man himself had the innkeeper get rooms for the Doctor and Rose on the way up.

A moment after they entered Shakespeare's room, the innkeeper came back and spoke to the writer privately

"I got you a room, Sir Doctor. You and Dame Rose are just across the landing," the innkeeper told them before leaving them.

"Poor Lynley. So many strange events. And yet, among those events, this lovely lady seems completely unshaken. And you, Sir Doctor. How can a man so young have eyes so old?" William questioned his strange visitors.

"I do a lot of reading," he replied in a tired voice.

"A trite reply. Yeah, that's what I'd do. And you, Dame Rose? You have something amazing in your eyes. There's something wild shining there," he said as he eyed Rose cautiously.

"I think we should say goodnight," Rose mumbled, her eyes wide at his comment about her. She remembered the werewolf saying that it had seen something of the wolf about her. What was it that they were seeing? She dashed across the hallway to the room that they'd been assigned.

"I must work. I have a play to complete" Shakespeare stated as he sat down behind his desk. "But I'll get my answers tomorrow, Doctor, and I'll discover more about you and why this constant performance of yours."

"All the world's a stage," the Doctor quoted.

"Hmm. I might use that," he said with approval. "Goodnight, Doctor."

"Nighty night, Shakespeare," the Doctor called as he turned and left the room.


	9. Shakespeare Code Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now on to the next part of Shakespeare. Hawkerin and I would also like to thank her husband for a bit of help with the naming scene.

 

The Shakespeare Code: Part 2

The Doctor joined Rose in their shared room and looked around. As was often the case, there was only one bed, but they'd shared jail cells and other rooms that were far worse.

"Not too bad, as things go," Rose commented and began unlacing her bodice. She had the chemise under her dress, and that would be far more comfortable for sleeping.

"Quite right. At least we're off the floor," he agreed.

The Doctor took off his jacket and shoes before joining Rose on the bed. They faced each other for a few moments, thinking about what they had learned.

"Alright, Doctor, you said it was witchcraft, but witches and things aren't really real, so what is it?" Rose asked him.

"You're right, magical witches as people on Earth would call them, aren't real. That's all Harry Potter and Wizard of Oz," he replied.

"Don't you dare spoil book seven for me, I still haven't had time to read it yet."

"Oh, I cried," he told her, anxious for her to catch up so they could discuss it. "So, it looks like witchcraft, but it isn't. Can't be. There's such a thing as psychic energy, but a human couldn't channel it like that. Not without a generator the size of Taunton and I think we'd have spotted that."

"Says the man who missed the London eye," Rose teased. Before the Doctor could defend himself, Rose turned back to the topic at hand. "Well, what could we be dealing with then? Some kind of aliens that act like witches?" Rose wondered.

"Almost certainly," the Doctor replied.

"Oh, I meant to tell you, that servant that was here earlier, I saw her outside when Mr. Lynley was going nuts. I couldn't see what it was, but she had something in her hands. And she was awful quick to offer help afterward," Rose told him.

"That's one of the things I like about you, Rose. You always see those things I miss," he praised her with a smile. He wasn't sure what he'd do without her. He had been on his own for such a long time before the war and thought he'd never have anyone with him again until he met her. Rose grinned back at him, and his eyes were drawn to the tiny strip of pink flesh sticking out.

Would it really be so bad to give in? He considered how close she was and how easy it would be to close the distance between them. The Doctor noticed her breath hitch and her heart rate increase slightly when she caught the way he was looking at her. He leaned closer slightly, his own hearts thumping madly in his chest, when they suddenly heard a piercing scream from across the hallway.

The Doctor shot out of the bed, quick as lightning, with Rose right behind him. The two of them ran to the room where the scream had come from, right across the hall. They entered the playwright's room and saw what happened. The innkeeper was lying on the floor, and Shakespeare's head was on the desk.

Suddenly, the writer jerked his head up and looked around. "What? What was that?" he said in confusion.

Rose went over to the open window behind him, the only other exit from the room and looked out. What she saw shocked her. There was the archetypical witch, flying in midair, sitting on a broomstick, and silhouetted against the full moon. She flew off, cackling.

"Her heart gave out. She died of fright," the Doctor declared.

"Doctor?" Rose called to him from the window.

"What did you see?" he asked, moving to look outside with her.

"A witch," she said plainly.

They made arrangements for the body to be taken care of and considered these new events. Rose went back to their room to put her overdress back on and brought the Doctor his jacket and trainers as well.

"Oh, sweet Dolly Bailey. She sat out three bouts of the plague in this place when we all ran like rats. But what could have scared her so? She had such enormous spirit," Shakespeare despaired.

"Rage, rage against the dying of the light," the Doctor quoted Dylan Thomas, it seemed an appropriate thing to say.

"I might use that," William responded thoughtfully.

"You can't. It's someone else's," the Doctor informed him.

"Ok, so we've got Lynley dying mysteriously outside right after talking to you, Dolly died of fright right in here," Rose started working through the facts.

"You're accusing me?" Shakespeare interrupted as he saw her making connections to him.

"Not at all. I'm actually worried about you. Why is everything so close to you? Like, what if you're being targeted or something?" Rose replied. "Not to mention that I saw what looked like a witch outside."

"Peter Streete spoke of witches," Shakespeare mused.

"Who's that?" Rose asked.

"Our builder. He sketched the plans to the Globe," he replied.

"The architect. Hold on. The architect! The architect! The Globe! Come on!" the Doctor shouted excitedly and grabbed Rose's hand as he ran out the door, Shakespeare following close behind.

It didn't take long to get to the Globe from the inn. Once inside, Rose noticed how different it felt while it was empty compared to when they had been there the day before. She jumped up to sit on the edge of the stage as the Doctor paced on the floor.

"The columns there, right? Fourteen sides. I've always wondered, but I never asked. Tell me, Will. Why fourteen sides?" he wondered.

"It was the shape Peter Streete thought best, that's all. Said it carried the sound well" Shakespeare told him.

"Fourteen. Why does that ring a bell? Fourteen," the Doctor said frustratedly.

"I don't know much about this stuff, but we're dealing with plays and things. Is there anything about the number fourteen with writing stuff?" Rose wondered.

"Brilliant, Rose! There are fourteen lines in a sonnet. So, words and shapes following the same design. Fourteen lines, fourteen sides, fourteen facets. Oh, my head. Tetradecagon. Think, think, think! Words, letters, numbers, lines!" the Doctor talked his way through the problem.

"This is just a theatre," the playwright said confusedly.

"Oh yeah, but a theatre's magic, isn't it? You should know. Stand on this stage, say the right words with the right emphasis a the right time. Oh, you can make men weep, or cry with joy. Change them. You can change people's minds just with words in this place. But if you exaggerate that…"

"And we've seen it hundreds of times. Technology that you don't understand can look like magic," Rose added.

"Very true. Tell you what, though. Peter Streete would know. Can I talk to him?" the Doctor asked.

"You won't get an answer," he responded. "A month after finishing this place, he lost his mind."

"What happened to him?" Rose wondered.

"Started raving about witches, hearing voices, babbling. His mind was addled," Shakespeare said.

"Where is he now?" the Doctor asked.

"Bedlam."

"Isn't that an asylum?" Rose wondered thoughtfully, sure that she'd heard that before.

"Bethlem Hospital. The madhouse," Shakespeare agreed.

"We're going to go there. Right now. Come on," the Doctor told them as he helped Rose down from the stage.

Rose pulled the Doctor to a stop for a moment and whispered, "Doctor, I wanna go have a look around the room where Dolly died. See if that witch left something there or anything."

"Sounds like a plan. You be careful though, that servant you mentioned might be hanging about," he warned her.

"I will," Rose promised as she took off towards the Elephant Inn. Just before she left the theatre, she called back, "Don't go getting yourself locked up in the looney bin!"

The Doctor shook his head in amusement and turned to go to the asylum.

"Wait, Doctor! I'm coming with you. I want to witness this at first hand," Shakespeare said. He went to leave the theatre, but two men, not much more than boys, came in. He picked up a sheet of paper and handed it to one of them.

"Ralph, the last scene as promised. Copy it, hand it round, learn it, speak it. Back before curtain up. And remember, kid, project. Eyes and teeth. You never know, the Queen might turn up," he told the boy, trying to inspire him. As he left, he muttered, "As if. She never does."

"So, Doctor, tell me when you're planning to put a ring on that girl's finger before someone else steals her away?" Shakespeare teased, having seen the tension between them.

"Don't even think about it. She is not available," he growled. The Doctor knew full well that he didn't really have any claim on Rose, she was free to be with whomever she pleased, but he knew that William Shakespeare had a wife and no qualms about messing around.

"Does that mean you're also not available?" the writer asked flirtatiously, looking the Doctor up and down.

So, the theory was true. "Oh, fifty seven academics just punched the air. Now move!"

DWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDW

Rose rushed to the inn to see if she could find anything. When she got inside the room, she started her search at the window, where the witch had been at least twice. She didn't see anything of importance, so turned to the desk. On it, there sat a skull with a candle sticking out of it. Not her version of decoration, but to each his own.

She noticed some papers sitting there, one of them sat to the side partially crumpled up. She opened it and saw what was obviously a page of a play. the last few lines looked like they were in different writing though. It looked kind of like her writing when she was half asleep. She read it silently, "The light of Shadmock's hollow moon doth shine onto a point in space betwixt Dravidian shores linear five nine three oh one six and strikes the fulsome grove of Rexel Four."

Writings of this time period were hard enough to read as it was, what with the doths, and thees, and thines and whatnot, but that was weird. It sounded like coordinates.

DWDWDWDWDWDWDWDW

The Doctor and Shakespeare arrived at the hospital and asked to see Peter Streete.

"Does my Lord Doctor wish some entertainment while he waits? I'd whip these madmen. They'll put on a good show for you. Mad dog in Bedlam," the keeper asked.

"No, I don't!" he yelled at the man.

"Well, wait here, my lords, while I make him decent. The keeper then left the men on their own.

"You've been here before, haven't you?" the Doctor questioned when he noticed the way William was looking around nervously.

"I've been mad. I've lost my mind. Fear of this place set me right again. It serves its purpose," Shakespeare said, trying to seem like it was nothing, but the Doctor could see it in his eyes. Loss untold.

"You lost your son," the Doctor said with a nod. He'd lost his whole family, in fact his whole species, in the war. He knew that kind of loss could drive you mad.

"My only boy. The Black Death took him. I wasn't even there," the other man lamented. "It made me question everything. The futility of this fleeting existence. To be or not to be. Oh, that's quite good," he finished, looking pleased with himself.

"You should write that down," the Doctor suggested.

"Maybe not. A bit pretentious?" Will considered. The Doctor shrugged, but stood by his suggestion.

They were called down the corridor to the requested cell. Peter Streete was huddled in the corner, whispering to himself.

"They can be dangerous, my lord. Don't know their own strength," the keeper warned them.

"I think it helps if you don't whip them. Now get out!" the Doctor spat at him angrily. It didn't matter the time period, there was no sense in beating people. The keeper left, and the Doctor got closer to Peter.

"Peter? Peter Streete?" he asked, trying to get the man's eyes to focus on him.

"He's the same as he was. You'll get nothing out of him,' the writer told him.

"Peter?" he asked again. Other people might have tried to get through to the poor soul who sat in front of him, but those other people weren't him. He touched the man, who finally looked up at him. The Doctor then put his fingertips to Peter's temples.

"Peter, I'm the Doctor. Go into the past. One year ago. Let your mind go back. Back to when everything was fine and shining. Everything that happened in this year since happened to somebody else. It was just a story. A Winter's Tale. Let go. That's it. That's it, just let go." When Peter was calm enough, he laid the man back on the bed to get comfortable, or as comfortable as he could get.

"Tell me the story, Peter. Tell me about the witches," he prodded.

"Witches spoke to Peter," he finally spoke. "In the night, they whispered. They whispered. Got Peter to build the Globe to their design. Their design! The fourteen walls. Always fourteen. When the work was done they snapped poor Peter's wits."

"Where did Peter see the witches? Where in the city? Peter, tell me. You've got to tell me where were they?" he asked the frightened man.

"All Hallows Street," he told him, eyes wide.

At just that moment, a woman appeared next to the Doctor. She fit the stereotypical description of a witch, with her wrinkled face and long fingernails. She sneered at the Doctor as she warned, "Too many words."

The Doctor backed away from her fearfully.

"By the gods, is that a witch?" Shakespeare gasped.

"Just one touch of the heart," she announced as she reached for Peter's chest.

"No!" the Doctor shouted, knowing that he couldn't stop her from killing the poor man. They had already broken his mind.

She touched his chest and Peter collapsed instantly.

"Witch! I'm seeing a witch!" William repeated in shock.

"Now, who would be next, hmm? Just one touch. Oh, oh, I'll stop your frantic hearts. Poor, fragile mortals," she questioned, laughing at their fear. "Who will die first, hmm?"

"Doctor, can you stop her?" Shakespeare wondered.

"No mortal has power over me," she boasted.

"Oh, but there's a power in words. If I can find the right one. If I can just know you," the Doctor declared.

"None on Earth has knowledge of us," she sneered.

The Doctor wasn't from Earth, though. "Then it's a good thing I'm here. Now think, think, think. Humanoid female, uses shapes and words to channel energy. Ah! Fourteen! That's it! Fourteen!" he shouted in realization. "The fourteen stars of the Rexel planetary configuration!" He pointed at her and shouted, "Creature, I name you Carrionite!"

The witch screamed and disappeared in a lingering flash of light.

"How?" William gasped.

"I named her. The power of a name. That's old magic. Well, like Rose said before, it's just a different sort of science. You lot, you chose mathematics. Given the right string of numbers, the right equation, you can split the atom. Carrionites use words instead," the Doctor explained.

"Use them for what?" Shakespeare wondered.

"Oh, the usual. The end of the world," he replied. "Rose," he realized.

They left the asylum quickly, before anyone could notice the body and went to the inn where Rose was supposed to be. When he went through the door of the room, Rose stood there, looking at him.

"Is everything okay?" she asked, seeing the look on his face.

"The witches, I know what they are," he responded, relieved that Rose was just fine. "They're Carrionites." Seeing the look on both of their faces, he hastily explained, "The Carrionites disappeared way back at the dawn of the universe. Nobody was sure if they were real or legend," he told both of them

"Well, I'm going for real," Shakespeare said, shaken up still.

"And they want to take over the world, yeah?" Rose asked. That was the usual problem for them after all.

"Yup. A new empire on Earth. A world of bones and blood and witchcraft," the Doctor grumbled.

"Ok, so how does their magic work? Because there's something here, Doctor. It doesn't seem right to me," she said and handed him the pages she'd found with the odd lines.

"Ooh, that's not right. The Carrionites use words to affect the world around them. And now, I'm looking at the man with the words," the Doctor said as he looked over the odd lines at the end of the play.

"Me? But I've done nothing," Shakespeare denied.

"What were you doing last night, when it was in the room?" Rose wondered. "Cause it looked like you'd fallen asleep."

"Finishing the play," he replied as if he were trying to defend himself.

"What happens on the last page?" the Doctor asked, trying to get him to see.

"The boys get the girls. They have a bit of a dance. It's all as funny and thought provoking as usual. Except those last few lines. Funny thing is, I don't actually remember writing them," he answered.

"I knew it," Rose whispered to herself.

"And now, take a look at what you wrote," the Doctor insisted as he handed the pages to him. "That's it. They used you. They gave you the final words like a spell, like a code. Love's Labour's Won. It's a weapon. The right combination of words, spoken at the right place, with the shape of the Globe as an energy converter! The play's the thing! And yes, you can have that," he shouted excitedly.

They needed to find where the witches were hiding. They'd gotten a hint from Peter before he died, so they were currently scouring the maps to find what they were looking for.

"All Hallows Street. There it is. Rose, we'll track them down. Will, you get to the Globe. Whatever you do, stop that play," the Doctor instructed.

"I'll do it. All these years I've been the cleverest man around. Next to you, I know nothing."

"Oh, don't make his ego even bigger than it already is," Rose chided, rolling her eyes. "And don't complain," she added, avoiding the Doctor's mock glare.

"I'm not. It's marvellous. Good luck, Doctor," he called out as the Doctor pulled Rose to the door behind him.

"Good luck, Shakespeare. Once more unto the breach!" he quoted.

"I like that," he said in approval, then realized, "Wait a minute, that's one of mine!"

The Doctor looked back in the room for a second. "Oh, just shift!" he chided.

Rose and the Doctor made their way to the area that they'd seen on the map. The whole area felt a bit creepy, but they had no idea exactly what they were looking for.

"All Hallows Street, but which house?" the Doctor pondered.

"Could you scan for something with your sonic?" Rose wondered.

"No, the kinds of things they use would just look like normal, human stuff. So, which house?" he asked rhetorically again.

The door to a house nearby creaked open loudly with no one around to have opened it. The Doctor and Rose exchanged a look.

"I think you mean, witch house," Rose teased with a wink and headed toward the door.

"I take it we're expected," the Doctor announced as they entered a room with various herbs hanging to dry and a bubbling cauldron in the middle of the room. The servant Rose had seen earlier was standing in the room looking at them with confidence.

"Oh, I think Death has been waiting for you a very long time," the witch-like woman informed him.

"Don't even think about it," Rose growled at her.

"Ah, seeing as you named my mother earlier, it would only be fair to return the favour," she smiled evilly. "I sneer at thee his hearts' beguiler and name the Doctor's fierce Rose Tyler," she rhymed, pointing at Rose. Rose felt like a brick wall had hit her. She gasped at the sensation, and stumbled backward into a pillar. For a moment, she had trouble breathing, then the pressure slowly lifted.

"What have you done?" the Doctor shouted and frantically checked her over. She seemed to be alright, but he worried nonetheless.

"It barely touched her, alas. It's curious. The name has less impact. She's somehow out of her time." She looked at Rose in confusion, considering what she saw. "No, not only out of her time, but, curiouser still, you appear to have two names etched upon your soul."

Rose wondered what the hell she was talking about and was about to ask her, when the Carrionite turned toward the Doctor and pointed at him instead.

"And as for you, Sir Doctor!" she exclaimed. When nothing happened, she gave him a piercing stare. "Fascinating. There is no name. Why would a man hide his title in such despair?"

"The naming won't work on me," he insisted.

"Oh, but there are other words to bring you to your knees," she teased. "Friends and family burned away when he ended the war on Gallifrey," she laughed as she pointed towards him.

The Doctor flinched at the mention of his planet, but the power of those words was only the memories that went with them. They had no power to physically hurt him. "Oh, big mistake. Because that time keeps me fighting. The Carrionites vanished. Where did you go?"

"The Eternals found the right words to banish us into deep darkness," she replied.

"And how did you escape?" he wondered.

"New words. New and glittering, from a mind like no other."

"William Shakespeare," Rose realized.

"His son perished. The grief of a genius. Grief without measure. Madness enough to allow us entrance," she confirmed.

"How many of you?" the Doctor asked.

"Just the three. But the play tonight shall restore the rest. Then the human race will be purged as pestilence. And from this world we will lead the universe back into the old ways of blood and magic," she told them with a confidence that spoke to her belief that there was nothing they could do to stop them.

"Hmm. Busy schedule. But first you've got to get past me," the Doctor informed her, stepping up close to her.

"Oh, that should be a pleasure, considering my enemy has such a handsome shape," she said, and ran her hand down the Doctor's sideburn. Rose took a step forward.

"Maybe you should back away," she suggested. She had a feeling that this wasn't going to be good at all.

"Now, that's one form of magic that's definitely not going to work on me," he said in disgust.

"Oi! What are you doing?" Rose shouted as she watched the woman run her hands through the Doctor's hair.

"Oh, we'll see," she told the Doctor and clipped a bit of hair from his head.

"What did you do?" he shouted, feeling where she had pulled.

"Souvenir," she told him as she waved the small lock of hair in front of her teasingly.

"Well, give it back," he demanded.

As the Doctor and Rose tried to grab her, she backed out of the window and floated in the air just outside.

"Well, that's just cheating," the Doctor protested.

"Behold, Doctor. Men to Carrionites are nothing but puppets," she told him as she wound the bit of his hair around a little doll.

"Stop that!" Rose shouted at her. She'd seen the movies. That thing in her hands was basically a Voodoo doll.

"Now, you might call that magic. I'd call that a DNA replication module," the Doctor said, watching helplessly.

"What use is your science now?" she teased. She stabbed the doll with her little scissors, then flew away.

The Doctor collapsed on a bench by the window and seemed to have a horrible pain in his chest.

"Oh my god! Doctor, what do I do?" Rose questioned frantically. "And why the hell did you get so close to her!"

"Ah! I've only got one heart working. How do you people cope? I've got to get the other one started. Hit me! Hit me on the chest!" he told her and Rose punched him as hard as she could. "Dah! Other side," he corrected her, but it didn't seem to be enough, so he turned around. "Now, on the back, on the back. Left a bit. Dah, lovely," he crowed as he straightened and seemed to be feeling better. "There we go. Badda booma! Well, what are you standing there for? Come on! The Globe!"


	10. The Shakespeare Code Part 3

Shakespeare Code: Part 3

Rose and the Doctor ran, hand in hand, back to the theatre. They got a little turned around in the maze of streets, but as they turned the corner that brought the Globe into view, they saw a frightening, red cyclone swirling above it.

"I told thee so! I told thee!" the man who had earlier insisted that the world would end in fire shouted after them.

"Stage door!" the Doctor called and tugged Rose around to the side of the building. Once inside, they found Will just waking up where he was sprawled out on a bench backstage.

"Stop the play. I think that was it. Yeah, I said, stop the play!" the Doctor yelled as he ran past him toward the stage.

"I hit my head," Shakespeare said in his defense.

"Yeah, don't rub it, you'll go bald. I think that's my cue!" he called over his shoulder, hearing the audience screaming in fear.

"Now begins the millennium of blood!" the Carrionites shouted threateningly from one of the boxes overlooking the stage from above.

The Doctor, Rose, and Shakespeare ran out onto the stage as they took in the horror that was unfolding. Deep red clouds swirled directly overhead, shadowy creatures could be seen within them.

"The Doctor. He lives!," Lilith exclaimed in shock. "Then watch this world become a blasted heath! They come. They come!" Lilith cried and held a crystal upwards, releasing huge, bat-like creatures from the portal.

"Come on, Will! History needs you!" the Doctor shouted over the roar of the wind.

"But what can I do?" he argued, staring at the spectacle fearfully.

"Reverse it!" the Doctor told him, as if that should be obvious.

"How am I supposed to do that?" Will questioned.

"It was your words that called them here, your words can send them back," Rose encouraged him.

"The shape of the Globe gives words power, but you're the wordsmith, the one true genius. The only man clever enough to do it," the Doctor added.

"But what words? I have none ready!" the playwright told them helplessly.

"You're William Shakespeare!" the Doctor insisted.

"But these Carrionite phrases, the need such precision," Will argued.

"Will, you're brilliant. When you're writing, the words just come to you, don't they? Just like magic, they make their way from your mind onto the page," Rose pressed, knowing that they were running out of time.

"Trust yourself. Words of the right sound, the right shape, the right rhythm. Words that last forever. That's what you do, Will. You choose perfect words. Do it. Improvise," the Doctor added.

William Shakespeare squared his shoulders as he braced himself for the attempt. "Close up this din of hateful, dire decay, decomposition of your witches' plot. You thieve my brains, consider me your toy. My doting Doctor tells me I am not!" he shouted confidently.

"No! Words of power!" Lilith cried fearfully as they watched Will on the stage.

"Foul Carrionite spectres, cease your show! Between the points…" Will continued and looked to the Doctor for the numbers that he needed.

"Seven six one three nine oh!" he supplied encouragingly.

"Seven six one three nine oh! Banished like a tinker's cuss, I say to thee…" Shakespeare continued, but got stuck looking for a rhyming word that would send them away.

Rose wanted to help, but the only words that came to mind were from their conversation earlier about Harry Potter. Oh, why not. She shouted, "Expelliarmus!"

"Expelliarmus!" the Doctor echoed, smiling brightly at her.

"Expelliarmus!" Shakespeare repeated in agreement with their choice.

"Good old JK!" the Doctor laughed.

The Carrionites began to scream loudly as the swirling clouds began to pull the monsters back into the portal. The words seemed to have had the desired effect.

"The deep darkness! They are consumed!" Lilith cried painfully as they watched all of their sisters disappear along with the pages of the play.

"Love's Labour's Won. There it goes," the Doctor commented.

There was a loud flash and bang. Suddenly, the room was clear. No Carrionites, papers, or anything to be seen. The people below were silent. Suddenly, someone started clapping, and everyone else quickly joined in. There were whistles and cheers.

"Oh my god. They think it was all special effects?" Rose gasped.

"Your effect is special indeed," Will said flirtatiously.

The Doctor scowled at him and grabbed Rose's hand to bring her along with him up into the balcony where the Carrionites had been. There was a crystal ball sitting on the floor, the three witches scratching against the inside of the glass as they tried to escape their prison. The Doctor picked up the crystal and tossed it in the air playfully.

"Careful!" Rose gasped, worried that he'd drop it and inadvertently release them.

"Not to worry! I've got a spot in the TARDIS where this lot can scream for all eternity," the Doctor told her with a wink.

"I don't even wanna know what's all in the TARDIS now," Rose said, staring at the small globe in the Doctor's hands.

They made their way back down to the stage to say their goodbyes to William Shakespeare and along the way, the Doctor picked up a large skull from the prop room. He also snagged a neck ruffle and put it on, playfully.

"Well, it's been fun, Will. But I think we're off," Rose told him and gave him a friendly hug.

"Are you sure that your heart belongs to him? He seems reluctant to show his affections," Will teased, noting the glare that the Doctor gave him from over her shoulder.

Rose blushed, but didn't answer.

"The Doctor may never kiss you. Why not entertain a man who will?" Will whispered in her ear.

"It's not gonna happen, Will," Rose rebuked him, backing away a bit. How did people stand to kiss one another before dental hygiene?

"Good props store back there. I'm not sure about this though. Reminds me of a Sycorax," the Doctor announced loudly, pretending that he wasn't bothered at all by their interactions.

"Sycorax. Nice word. I'll have that off you as well," Will told him admiringly.

"I should be on ten percent. How's your head?" he wondered.

"Still aching," Shakespeare admitted.

"Here, I got you this." The Doctor held out a familiar ruffled collar, stepped closer, and wrapped it around Shakespeare's neck.

"Neck brace," he announced. "Wear that for a few days till it's better, although you might want to keep it. It suits you."

"What about that play?" Rose asked.

"Gone. I looked all over. Every single copy of Love's Labour's Won went up in the sky," the Doctor told them.

"My lost masterpiece," Will lamented.

"Well, lots of other masterpieces to write, yeah?" Rose suggested.

"I suppose, I could rewrite it," Will pondered.

"Yeah, better not, Will. There's still power in those words. Maybe it should best stay forgotten," the Doctor told him warningly.

"Oh, but I've got new ideas. As you said, Dame Rose, other masterpieces await. Perhaps it's time I wrote about fathers and sons, in memory of my boy, my precious Hamnet," he mused happily.

"Anyway, time we were off. Rose and I have more exploring to do," the Doctor announced, eager to be on their way.

"You mean travel on through time and space," Will corrected him.

"You what?" the Doctor gasped.

"How did you-?" Rose questioned with wide eyes.

"You're from another world like the Carrionites, and Rose is from the future. It's not hard to work out," Will told them confidently.

"That's incredible. You are incredible," the Doctor admitted.

"We're alike in many ways, Doctor. Rose, Let me say goodbye to you in a sonnet. 'The rose looks fair, but fairer we it deem, For that sweet odour which doth in it live-"

He was suddenly interrupted by two of the actors bursting in.

"Will!" one of them called.

"Will, you'll never believe it. She's here! She's turned up!" the other one cried out.

"We're the talk of the town. She heard about last night. She wants us to perform it again!" the first one exclaimed

"Who's she?" Rose asked.

"Her Majesty. She's here!"

They heard a fanfare, then Queen Elizabeth the first walked in, followed by two guards.

"Queen Elizabeth the First!" the Doctor beamed as the elderly monarch entered the building.

"Rose Tyler," the woman yelled in shock and anger.

"What?!" Rose gasped, not sure why the queen would seem to despise her so much.

"And her meddlesome husband, the Doctor," Elizabeth continued.

"I beg your pardon?!" the Doctor squeaked and audibly swallowed.

"Off With their heads!" the queen ordered loudly.

"What?!" the Doctor and Rose cried in unison.

Shakespeare started laughing merrily at the sight, enjoying the show in front of him.

"Run!" Rose screamed and grabbed the Doctor's hand.

William Shakespeare just sat on his bale of hay and laughed as the two guards chased the Doctor and Rose out of the theatre.

XxXxXxXx

"Stop in the name of the Queen!" one of the guards shouted at the pair of travelers, who were certainly not going to stop.

"What have we done to upset her?" Rose questioned worriedly.

"How should I know? We haven't even met her yet. That's time travel for you. Still, can't wait to find out," he told her with a grin and pushed her inside the TARDIS. "That's something to look forward to. Ooo!" he added and ducked inside himself just as an arrow stuck into the door behind him.

XxXxXxXx

A few days, two trips, and one jail cell later, Rose and the Doctor were running through London, chasing after a hoix.

"Doctor! Doctor! Doctor!" a mysterious blonde woman called after him.

"Hello. Sorry, bit of a rush. There's a sort of thing happening. Fairly important we stop it," he said, trying to excuse himself to go and help Rose.

"My God, it's you. It really is you. Oh, you don't remember me, do you?" the woman said in awe.

Rose ran past him, carrying a red bucket and shouting, "Doctor, are you sure it's the red bucket? Cause last time, you said-"

"No! It's the blue bucket!" he shouted.

"Last time you said NOT blue!" she argued.

"I know what I said!" he shouted and turned back to the woman. "Look, sorry, I've got a bit of a complex life. Things don't always happen to me in quite the right order. Gets a bit confusing at times, especially at weddings. I'm rubbish at weddings, especially my own."

"Oh, my God, of course. You're a time traveller. It hasn't happened to you yet. None of it. It's still in your future," the woman realized.

"What hasn't happened?" he questioned distractedly as he watched Rose duck down an alleyway nearby.

"Doctor! Come on! This thing is heavy!" Rose shouted from the alley.

"It was me. Oh, for God's sake, it was me all along. You got it all from me!," the woman realized.

"Got what?" the Doctor asked in confusion, Hoix mostly forgotten.

"Okay, listen. One day you're going to get stuck in 1969. Make sure you've got this with you. You're going to need it," she told him as she handed over a plastic folder filled with papers.

"Doctor!" Rose screamed and ran out of the alley, a frightening growl following her.

"Yeah, listen, listen, gotta dash. Things happening. Rather nasty, smelly, dangerous things," he told her and began to bounce on his toes as he itched to rescue his companion.

"Okay. Right," Sally said, staring at the hoix with wide eyes.

"What was your name?" the Doctor asked.

"Doctor, it didn't work!" Rose yelled, her trainers pounding on the pavement as quickly as she could manage, back towards the other bucket.

"Sally, Sally Sparrow. Shouldn't you?" She pointed toward Rose. .

"Good to meet you, Sally Sparrow. Might wanna get inside." A man came by and Sally took his hand.

"Goodbye, Doctor," Sally called out as the Doctor ran to help Rose.


	11. Bliss Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, let's shake things up a bit more. Different people, different story. Our duo is headed off to New Earth. We hope you enjoy this.
> 
> Thank you, everyone, for all the comments. they make our day!

 

 

The Doctor felt a familiar sensation coming from his breast pocket and pulled out the psychic paper from within. A glance at it confirmed he'd received a message.

" _Invited-black tie-senate building."_ Time and space coordinates followed.

The writing was familiar. The Face of Boe had contacted him again. _We shall meet again, Doctor, for the third time, for the last time, and the truth shall be told. Until that day…._

He wondered what the important message was.

Eager to get there, he searched for Rose, who was hidden in the depths of the TARDIS somewhere. It didn't take him long to find her. The TARDIS had brought him to the library, where he found Rose looking through a book on first aid, which included the procedures for CPR and the Heimlich maneuver.

The Doctor smiled, happy that she was finally learning that. The information had vexed her for a while. He sat down on the couch next to her, which caught her attention.

"Hello," he said, grinning broadly.

"Hi," she replied, putting the book down.

"I've got us a destination," he announced.

"Oh, really? Where?" Rose asked.

"The Face of Boe contacted me again." He pulled out the thin, leather wallet and showed her the message inside.

"Black tie, huh?" Rose commented, returning the grin that was plastered on his face. "I've got the perfect dress!" She hopped up and ran off, leaving a laughing Doctor behind. He loved her enthusiasm. It was infectious.

The laughter stopped when he realized he had to wear his tuxedo.

The Doctor stood in the console room, adjusting his bowtie and cuffs. What took her so long to get ready? He started fidgeting with the console and accidentally popped a wire loose. If it came off so easily, it needed fixing anyway, he thought.

While he was fixing it back in place, he heard the soft footfalls of Rose behind him. He finished putting the wire in place and turned to look at her.

_Oh._ She was wearing a midnight blue dress that hung off one shoulder. It hugged her curves to a point halfway down her hips, where it flared out. The skirt portion of the dress was in two layers, the top in a rose patterned lace that matched what covered her shoulder. The dress was paired with the sensible kitten heels she had found on Alteri Three after complaining about how difficult it was to find shoes that were great for running and looked good at the same time. Her hair was pulled up in an off center bun, with a pair of black hair sticks to hold it together.

The Doctor picked up his jaw off the floor and turned back to the console to fiddle with the controls harmlessly as he got his mind back under control. Deciding that a good ramble would take his mind off of staring at her legs, he took a deep breath and turned back to his lovely companion.

"Oh, black tie. Whenever I wear this, something bad always happens," the Doctor grumbled as he adjusted his cufflinks.

"Oh, I dunno, I think it suits you. In a James Bond kind of way," Rose told him flirtatiously.

"James Bond? Really?" he preened and adjusted his bow tie.

"Or, you know, kitchen staff," she added in a fit of giggles.

He smirked at her little joke and responded, "I'll have you know that working in the kitchens has proven itself to be a very useful tactic on several occasions, Rose Tyler! Not only with the Cybermen, but at that high school as well. And that's just in the last year."

"Ugh, don't remind me about that!" Rose groaned as she remembered her time serving gravy to ungrateful teenagers. Though, it had revealed the important information about the Krillitane oil, she had to admit.

The Doctor chuckled and sent them off to their destination without tossing them to the floor. The TARDIS seemed to be considerate of the work Rose had put into her hair and dress for the evening.

"New Earth, the year five billion and twenty-nine. We're six years after our last visit," he announced as they walked toward the doors of the time ship together.

"Ah, good times," Rose joked. "You, me, the spirit of a trampoline."

"Crazy Cat-Nuns trying to kill us," he added and took her arm in a gentlemanly manner.

They stepped out of the TARDIS, but not into the black tie glitter that Rose expected to see. They were in an alley. It was bright out and had recently rained, but she couldn't see the sky.

"Well, looks like we've got a trek to the gala," the Doctor said. "Let's see where we are."

He walked over to a nearby computer terminal and accessed a map of the city. In a moment, they could see where they were in relation to the Senate building of New, New York.

"Ah. It's just a lift and a short walk away," the Doctor told her reassuringly. He grasped her hand and led her through the crowd of people towards the lifts.

On the way there, Rose noticed posters with the little green moon symbol. They looked like they were advertising various moods.

"Happy. Mellow. Bliss," Rose read off.

"Interesting. Wonder how long they've been doing this," he commented.

"It's got the hospital symbol on it, like it's advertising a medicine or something," Rose pointed out.

The Doctor hummed in agreement and used his sonic to activate the holographic advertisement attached to the poster. A short video played that seemed to imply that there were patches that could alter your mood.

"What people do to feel something else," Rose said, shaking her head sadly. It seemed that in the future, the drug problem had taken on a different form. She remembered seeing people who were high on illicit substances, willing to do just about anything to feel what they had felt before.

"Well, we'd best be on our way. Wouldn't want to miss the party," he said with a smirk and offered her his arm once again. Rose took it, grateful to think about something else.

They found the lift they were supposed to take and the Doctor hit the button. The door opened, and Rose frowned at how small it was. She wouldn't be able to lay down in it, if she had wanted to, of course. Might even have had trouble sitting with her legs stretched out.

"It was an afterthought," the Doctor guessed, interpreting what she was thinking from the look on her face. "They put it in an available space when they needed another way to the upper part of the city."

"As long as it works," Rose replied and stepped in.

There were no buttons, which was similar to the lift in the hospital, but it didn't seem to respond to voice commands either as a little panel lit up on the wall. "Ah," the Doctor said in realization and pulled out their 'invitation' on his psychic paper. He held it over the little light for a moment and the lift started on its way.

Suddenly, the swiftly moving lift shuddered and stopped without the usual slow down, causing both occupants to come off the floor when inertia kept them moving. The Doctor grabbed Rose around the shoulders to steady her as they regained their footing.

"Woah, there."

"Doctor? What happened?" Rose asked worriedly, hoping that the lift wouldn't start going the other way. "Are we there? Why didn't the doors open?"

"The lift stopped," he replied. "It's not a mechanical failure. The system would have given an alarm," he deduced. "It's not electrical, or that'd be obvious. It's like it was shut off." He went over to the little panel and ran his sonic over it, trying to get the lift to start again, but nothing happened. He tried again with a different setting with the same result.

"It won't let me in!" he complained.

"Can you get the doors open? Or the access to the shaft?" Rose wondered.

"Doesn't look like it, but give me a few minutes," he told her and continued to try hacking into the system. "Deadlocked!" he exclaimed after several tries.

"Do we need to worry about running out of air or anything, Doctor? It's a really small space in here," Rose asked nervously.

"No," he replied, pointing up at the corners, where small vents could be seen. "The filtration's still working. I can hear it, but it'll get hot in here with us stuck." He paused a moment when he analysed the content of the air in the compartment. The space was quickly filling with the scent of Rose's pheromones, fear foremost, distracting him from finding a quick solution to their problem.

"Relax," he told her. "We'll get out."

"If the lift doesn't fall first," Rose said and he could hear her heart rate increasing.

"It's not going to fall. There's a mechanical stop. If the lift's dropping too fast, it opens up and grabs onto the walls," he assured her. It didn't help. Her fear stayed.

Trying to comfort her just as he did on an impossible planet surrounding a black hole, he wrapped his arms around her shoulders and held her tight. Her arms snaked around his waist and she breathed him in.

"We're trapped in here, Doctor. And if it's deadlocked, that means it's on purpose," Rose admitted her real fear finally.

"Not trapped. Temporarily contained," he told her. "We haven't tried all possible ways to get out yet."

"I'm being irrational," Rose realized.

"Fear's not always rational," he assured her. "Besides, like you said, the lift's stuck on purpose, and-" he cut himself off, knowing that continuing that thought would definitely be a bad idea. "And we haven't tried the access hatch!" he finished, pointing up to the square in the ceiling.

Rose looked up at it too, and he could feel her mood shift as she realized that they had hope for an escape. They'd have to climb the shaft, but it wasn't the first time they'd done so.

The Doctor spent quite a while with his sonic aimed at the ceiling of the lift as he tried to release the access panel so that they could leave the cramped space. Rose was sitting, awkwardly on the floor as she waited. It took him nearly fifteen minutes of meticulously releasing, from a distance, the multiple magnetic seals on the panel which was meant to open from the outside, but he gave a triumphant "Ha!" when it finally opened.

"You've got it opened?" Rose asked.

"Oh, yes," he replied. "Come on, up you go!" he added as he grabbed her hands to help her back up to her feet. He reached down to boost her up and suddenly realized his predicament as she paused to reach through the small opening while she was perched sitting on his shoulder. His arm was wrapped supportively around her thighs and his own hearts rate increased exponentially.

Rose hadn't given a thought to climbing up on his back to push the hatch open, ready to get out of there, but once she was up there, she realized what had to happen for her not to fall. She wound up sitting on his shoulder, with his arm wrapped around her thighs. His hands were, by necessity, on her bare skin. She had pulled her skirt up higher to be able to move her legs more while she was getting secure. She froze for a second when she realized what happened.

Well, there was some more fuel for her fantasies, she thought. She noticed the Doctor's breath hitch for a moment, but dismissed it as being due to the extra effort of holding her up. She needed to focus on her task and not her hormones.

Rose grabbed the edge of the opening and pulled herself up, with the Doctor pushing her from below. She climbed out onto the top of the car, trying not to think about the show she must be putting on for the Doctor and turned to give him a hand up.

The Doctor jumped up, grabbing the edge of the square opening with his fingertips. He used his feet to climb the wall as he pulled himself up. Rose helped him the rest of the way, but when the Doctor went to stand up, she pulled on him at the same time his black Chuck slipped and he fell, landing on top of her.

"Oof!" she gasped in surprise and discomfort.

"Sorry! Sorry!" he exclaimed, flustered by the rather compromising position and helped her up as he got to his feet.

Rose looked up at the shaft, then down, trying to see how far they had come. Anything to give her an excuse not to let him see how red her face had become. Beside her, the Doctor was doing the same.

"Can we just go to the next floor and get out?" she asked.

"We can try. Wait here a minute," he answered. He climbed up to the next level and ran his sonic over the door. Nothing happened. He went up to the level above and tried again. When he couldn't get through, he came back down.

"Do you know what level we need to get to?" Rose asked when his feet touched the roof of the lift.

"We've got to get above level two hundred in order to be in the upper city levels. The different sections can be blocked off separately." he responded. The next door beside the ladder read one hundred and fifty three.

"Quite a ways to go. Well, let's get going," Rose said, gesturing to the ladder attached to the wall.

"Ladies first," he told her.

"But," she squeaked as she gestured to her skirt and thought of him looking up it from below the whole climb.

The Doctor sighed, knowing what she was worried about, but he had good cause for her to go first. "Rose, I want to be able to catch you if you slip from the ladder. We don't have any safety ropes, it's a long way down, and you're not exactly dressed for mountain climbing."

Rose conceded that he had a point. "Eyes front," she warned him and reached out to grab the ladder. When she got her footing, she started climbing up.

The Doctor got on as well when she was high enough for him to do so. He fully intended to keep his eyes in safe territory, but he had to keep an eye on Rose's feet and check how she was managing endurance-wise, in case she suddenly lost her grip. The broad flare of her skirt meant that he unintentionally caught several less than innocent glances.

In an effort to distract himself, he started talking about the cities of the time. "Most human built cities after the year Five Billion are compartmentalized. Back to the beginning of cities, people found that disease or fire would spread faster in the close living quarters, so they built new cities like ships. Close off one area from the others, and nothing should get through. Doesn't always work, especially when the thing to be quarantined has already gotten through the seals, but it works well enough to have become standard."

"Yeah, didn't work so well in the hospital," Rose replied.

"Well, it would have if Cassandra hadn't released all of them the way she did. It usually works more or legs…. LESS!" he corrected his sudden slip, his face turning a deep crimson. He was glad she couldn't see him at the moment.

When Rose didn't make a comment on his slip, he breathed a sigh of relief and continued his babble.

"If the system is working right, and it usually is, no one outside of the quarantined area knows that the section is closed off unless they try to go to it until it's opened back up again. Keeps people from panicking unnecessarily. Panic can cause more damage than what they are panicking about."

The babble and occasional answer from Rose continued as they went up the forty seven levels of ladder. As time went on, Rose's answers became breathier.

When they were at level one hundred ninety-seven, Rose had a horrible thought and asked the Doctor a question. "What you said about the diseases and all?"

"Yeah?"

"Would it be like this if the level we were trying to get to was locked down?" she wondered.

"Uh." She had a good point. He thought about it for a moment. "If the level was shut down, it wouldn't stop completely. The lift would have just stopped at a different floor."

"But you can check for something like that before we go out at level two hundred, yeah?" Rose asked him.

"I can run a scan with the sonic, but if it isn't a known pathogen, it won't show up," he told her.

Rose didn't answer. He heard her breathing hard, then her foot slipped, and she cursed. The Doctor climbed up a bit further, ready to catch her if she fell. He was glad the climb was almost over. His own hands hurt, he knew she had to have blisters by then.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, yeah," she answered, having found her footing again. She held onto the ladder with her arm instead of her hands. "Just give me a minute."

"Take your time."

"So, are we going to do anything before we crack open the doors or just take our chances with what might be on the other side?" she asked as they rested a moment.

"I'm going to scan, of course," he replied. "If I find anything, we'll move up to the next level.

"Think we might've missed the party by now?" she teased and he could hear the smile in her voice even if he couldn't see it at the moment.

"Oh, always a party when we're around. This is more our style than schmoozing anyway. Except maybe for nibbles. I love nibbles," he replied.

"We're here," Rose said suddenly, and the Doctor looked up to see that she was correct.

She moved up the ladder a little further so the Doctor could climb up next to access the doorway. He scanned first with his sonic for any signs of pathogens in the air on the other side of the doors, fire or dangerous gasses. It all seemed fine and he took a deep breath before switching settings to hopefully open the doors.

After a few seconds, with a thunk and a hiss, they opened, and he stepped off the ladder, holding out his hand for Rose to take. She gasped and winced as he held her hand a little too tightly. Her skin was red and there were indeed the signs of blisters on the way.

Seeing no one around, he had her hold her hands out and used another setting on his trusty screwdriver to numb the pain in her hands, followed by a different one to help with the swelling.

"Should keep some of those nanogenes in your pockets, yeah?" she joked.

"Nah, you know how dangerous those things can be in the wrong place," he replied as he finished up. "I've got a cream in the TARDIS that'll heal that right up as soon as we can get back."

Rose looked around them and said, "Well, we should find someone and figure out why the lift's been stopped."

When Rose could take the Doctor's hand more comfortably, they walked together out of the alcove for the lift and into the main corridor. What they saw had them reeling.


	12. Last Words

The Doctor and Rose stood just outside of the alcove the lifts were in, looking around them in horror. There were bodies littered everywhere. Rose automatically moved to check and see if anyone was still breathing, but the Doctor held her back.

"Don't touch them! We don't know what caused this yet," he warned her and scanned the area with his sonic.

"Air: clear," he mumbled to himself. "What did this is not in the air. At least not anymore." He went closer to one of the bodies for a more thorough scan.

Rose fought against the urge to throw up and looked cautiously at one of the people near her and saw one of those patches on their neck that were advertised on the poster they saw earlier. The lettering on it read, 'Bliss.'

"Doctor, come have a look at this," she called to him.

The Doctor came over and she pointed at what she had found. "Yeah," he replied. "That one over there has one too."

"Could it have caused this?" Rose asked.

"These patches are supposed to be chemical or hormone based," he told her. "That wouldn't be enough to cause this kind of widespread devastation."

He waved his hand off toward the horizon, where dark plumes of smoke could be seen from crashed vehicles that had caught fire. One of the formerly flying cars had landed near them, but wasn't on fire. The driver was clearly dead though, just like everyone else in the street.

Whatever had killed them all had spread far and wide.

"What's next then, Doctor?" Rose asked, not sure what else they could learn from their current location, and wanting to get far away from there.

"Well, let's make our way toward where we were supposed to go. Try to find any survivors along the way that could give us a hint at what happened here," he suggested. With a nod, she followed his lead toward the Senate building.

Rose had seen many things in her time with the Doctor. Dead people kept working by chips in their heads, Slitheen and their skin suits, Daleks, but this was one of the worst sights she had ever seen. These people had died quickly, living their lives, and very recently. Children lay dead in their mothers' arms and she couldn't stop the tears from streaming down her face.

She glanced at people's necks every now and then, as that seemed to be where the patches were being kept. Very few people were not wearing one. The use of the chemical and hormonal mood changers was almost as commonplace as breathing. She read their names and learned that the most common one being worn was the Bliss patch.

"I'm almost positive, Doctor, that this has something to do with Bliss. It doesn't seem right that so many of these people were using it," Rose told him as they carefully stepped through the crowded and deadly silent street.

"I'm inclined to agree," the Doctor replied tersely, staring at a young mother who looked to be around Rose's age. She was curled up on the ground, holding her child in her arms.

When they finally reached the Senate building, they found more of the same. All of the senators were still in their seats, lifeless as the rest of the people they had seen. It was a gruesome sight, made worse by the festive, glittering decor and the way that everyone was dressed. It seemed most of the Senate was supposed to have attended the party they should have been at.

"Hold on," the Doctor whispered as he suddenly turned his head. It looked as though he had heard something. Rose couldn't hear anything, but she knew that his hearing was far better than her own. She likely wouldn't have been able to discern where the noise was coming from, even if she could hear it. "This way," he said and took her hand to tug her along behind him.

The pair went through a cream coloured curtain, into another room behind the senate chambers. Inside, they saw two familiar figures. The Face of Boe, who had called them here, and one of the cat nuns from the hospital on their last visit.

The cat nun was climbing out of the tank that the Face of Boe floated in, coughing. When her feet touched the floor, she thanked him.

The Doctor and Rose approached the pair quickly, since they were the only other living people they had seen in hours.

"What happened here?" the Doctor questioned.

"Doctor, I knew you would come," Boe greeted him calmly.

"Are you two the only survivors? What's going on here?" the Doctor continued, worried more about saving anyone else than formalities.

"A new chemical. A new mood. They called it Bliss. Everyone tried it. They couldn't stop. A virus mutated inside the compound and became airborne. There was just enough time to close down the walkways and the flyovers, sealing off the under-city," the cat woman told him. He recognized her now as Novice Hame.

"So the people down there are still alive? It's all sealed off up here? Are we safe?" Rose questioned worriedly.

"I'm not detecting any virus anymore. It must have killed itself off once all of the people died. To spread that quickly, it had to have a very quick lifespan," the Doctor reassured her.

"Can we unlock everything then? It was almost impossible to get through from the lift," Rose wondered.

"It should be safe. What are you doing here, Novice Hame? How did the two of you survive this?" the Doctor asked.

"After your last visit, I was made his nurse as penance for my sin," she replied. "He protected me from the virus by shrouding me in his smoke. He was the one to close everything down and protect as many people as possible."

"So he saved them," the Doctor said, staring at the Face of Boe in his glass home. The ancient creature looked tired, even more so than he had the last time they had visited.

"The Face of Boe wired himself into the mainframe when it started. The power grid can only keep running for so long without the people controlling it," Hame warned them.

"Well, we'd best get to work on opening everything back up then. Now that the virus is gone, the rest of the city will need to step up and take over," the Doctor responded and approached the nearby computer terminal that the Face of Boe had connected himself into.

He typed furiously for several long minutes as he tried to access all of the systems that had locked down.

As he typed, Rose went over to the Face of Boe and said, "Hello, there, I'm Rose. I don't know if you remember me or not. We've met before, but I wasn't myself the last time you saw me."

She heard a chuckle in her mind. "Rose Tyler, I could never forget you. I am glad to see you as yourself one last time."

The Doctor cheered loudly as the computers hummed back to life. The various screens slowly showed the red locked sections changing to green across the city. But just as everything seemed to be going perfectly, the hum of the computer system shifted louder and sparks started to fly from the various cables.

"What's wrong with it?" Rose shouted over the noise of the machines.

"The power's feeding back! It's going to flare. Rose, help me disconnect this, quickly!" the Doctor called to her urgently. She rushed forward and helped to pull apart the cables.

Before they could detach the various cords connecting the Face of Boe to the power grid, a huge surge of power flowed toward the ancient creature. The glass of the tank cracked violently and sent the Doctor, Rose, and Novice Hame ducking for cover from the flying shards.

When the glass had stopped flying, they approached the Face of Boe, who was now laying on the floor. He had a cut on one of his tentacles, but other than that, didn't seem to have a mark on him that they could see.

"I am failing, Doctor," he told them all telepathically.

"No, don't say that. Plenty of life left," the Doctor insisted and moved to check him for further injuries.

"It's good to breathe the air once more," he sighed, sounding exhausted, even in their minds.

"Don't give up, now," Rose told him tearfully. The Face of Boe had been there on her very first trip in the TARDIS, and he'd been there during her first trip with the Doctor after his regeneration too. She felt like she was losing an old friend.

"Legend says the Face of Boe has lived for billions of years. Isn't that right? And you're not about to give it all up now," the Doctor implored.

"Everything has its time. You know that, old friend, better than most," Boe insisted.

"The legend says more," Novice Hame reminded the Doctor. She had told him about the message during their last visit to New Earth.

"Don't. There's no need for that," the Doctor argued, irrationally hoping that by stopping that particular prophecy, he might delay the loss of this ancient being.

"It says that the Face of Boe will speak his final secret to a traveller," Hame continued on, unheeded.

"Yeah, but not yet. Who needs secrets, eh?" the Doctor protested.

"I have seen so much. Perhaps too much. I am the last of my kind, as you are the last of yours, Doctor," the Face of Boe explained.

"That's why we have to survive. Both of us. Don't go," the Doctor gave one last protest, his voice strained with almost tears. Rose put her hand on the ancient being's cheek. It felt cool to the touch. The giant eyes locked with hers for a moment before they turned to the Doctor again.

"I must. But know this, Time Lord. For the answers you will seek, the arch is the key," he announced and with one last sigh, his large eyes closed forever.

The Doctor and Rose left Novice Hame to explain what had happened in the overcity. Some leaders could surely be found to guide the city through the clean up. They went back to the TARDIS quickly, and more easily this time, now that the lifts were working again. The Doctor flung them into the vortex without looking back.

"Doctor, what do you think that message meant? The arch is the key?" Rose wondered.

"Don't know. I'm sure I could come up with hundreds of theories that would fit, but we'd never know if any of them were right until we came across the right situation," he responded, not a fan of those kinds of prophecies. "Right then, let's make a quick trip to the infirmary," he announced, quickly changing the topic.

"The infirmary? What for?" Rose questioned, wrinkling her nose at the idea.

"We just came out of a situation where millions of people dropped dead in the streets in minutes. I want to make sure that there aren't any remnants of the virus hanging about that might affect you later on," he explained. "Plus, there's the little matter of your hands."

Rose looked down at her hands in surprise. Stopping the pain had worked very well, but her hands were still raw. "Oh, alright," she agreed with an exasperated sigh and followed him down the corridor.

They went into the infirmary, and the Doctor patted the examination table to indicate she should sit there. Rose hopped up, and wriggled for a moment, trying to get comfortable. The Doctor turned back to her, holding a tube of cream. He rubbed it on her hands, gently, first on one hand, then the other. His fingertips brushed against her palm and it felt good.

He put the tube of cream back where he got it from. "It should be taken care of in the next 10 hours, but if you have any redness or swelling, let me know.

He the came back to her, holding a vial and she groaned. Blood had always been the worst. "Do you need blood?" she whined, knowing she was whining and didn't care.

"Now Rose, you know that I can get the most thorough results this way," he chastised and cleaned her arm with a small wipe. He was gentle and efficient in his actions and it really didn't hurt all that much. The needles that he used were far more advanced than what was used in her time on Earth.

The process took just a moment before the Doctor pulled back, put a plaster on her, shook the vial, and put it in a machine on the other side of the room. The screen above, lit up almost instantly, showing him a microscopic view of the sample as well as an analysis, displayed in his circular language that Rose couldn't read, but was scattered around the ship on little yellow post-it notes.

The Doctor stared at the Gallifreyan words for a couple of minutes, brow furrowed, and Rose was starting to get nervous. When she couldn't take it anymore, she asked, "It's clean, right? I'm okay?"

This seemed to break him out of his spell, and he turned his attention back to her. "What? Yes. No. I… What?" he stuttered confusedly, glancing back and forth between the screen and the young woman he was scanning.

"Am I going to die, Doctor?" she asked pointedly, nearing hysteria at his reaction.

"No! No, of course not, well, not immediately anyway. It's just, Rose, this isn't right," he told her, tugging on his hair fiercely.

"Okay, you're scaring me," she said. "What's not right?"

Suddenly, she remembered being scanned in the hospital by the Judoon. The scan proclaimed that she was human with a genetic mutation. "Judoon!" she blurted out.

"Ju-what?" the Doctor asked, more confused than ever.

"In the hospital, when you- and they scanned me- and it was weird. They said I had a mutation."

"Yes, well, this looks something like that. Why didn't you say something?" he said, nearly shouting at the end in his shock and worry.

"You died! I was a little preoccupied and I forgot," Rose shouted back. She was terrified and struggled to keep her breathing steady. "Now, what's wrong with me?"

"I don't know," he admitted. "I'll have to analyze it more. I don't think it's dangerous, at least not immediately. But I don't know what caused it and that is terrifying. Something that could alter your entire genome could do anything in the long term."

"I'm okay for now though, yeah?" she asked weakly.

"As far as I can see, you don't seem to be in danger," he assured her. He started staring at the screen and typing. "Why don't you get some rest, Rose, and I'll keep looking at this for a while?" he told her distractedly.

She nodded and shuffled back to her bedroom, knowing there was no way she'd ever get any rest. After going through her normal routine in the hope that she'd be able to trick herself into going to sleep, she found herself staring at the ceiling. Her mind raced as she worried about all of the various things that they'd come across in their travels that might have caused some kind of permanent mutation in her body. Would she get cancer? If it was changing her DNA, was she going to change in her appearance or grow horns or something?

She thought of her mother and the day she lost her. The words she said to Rose just before they went to Torchwood.

" _And you'll keep on changing. And in forty years time, fifty, there'll be this woman, this strange woman, walking through the marketplace on some planet a billion miles from Earth. But she's not Rose Tyler. Not anymore. She's not even human."_

She was afraid.


	13. Sleep Tight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're so happy with the response so far!
> 
> Some answers and some fluff!

Sleep Tight

 

Rose laid in bed, staring at the ceiling for what felt like hours.  It probably wasn’t, but her mind was racing and she knew that there was no way she could fall asleep without knowing more about what was happening inside her.  She put on her fuzzy, pink slippers and shuffled back to the infirmary clad in her polka-dotted jimjams.

 

“Doctor?” she called meekly into the brightly lit room.

 

“Rose? What are you doing up?  I thought you were going to bed?” he asked as he looked up at her over the monitor screen in front of him.  He had his glasses on and it was clear from the state of his hair that he had been running his fingers through it quite a bit. He was still decked out in his full tuxedo, but the tie was hanging skewed. 

 

“I can’t sleep.  I just can’t help but worry that something is really wrong with me, Doctor.  I’m scared,” she admitted, running her hand through her own tangled tresses.

 

“Oh, Rose.  Don’t be scared.  Come here,” he told her reassuringly.

 

Rose walked over to where he was studying the computer screen and sat on the stool next to him.  The data on the screen was still in the beautiful Gallifreyan script that she couldn’t read, but he pressed a few buttons and there were pictures that she could recognize a little bit.

 

On the screen was what she thought was DNA, but there was something about it that didn’t match up with her vague memories of her biology classes.  “What’s wrong with it?” she asked, squinting sleepily at the screen.

 

“Well, I wouldn’t say  wrong exactly, but definitely altered,” he answered.  “These extra bits here have been sort of added onto your regular genome and are making it, umm, stronger?  I guess that’s the best way to put it.  Your immune system is significantly more efficient and the levels of cellular degradation have slowed.”

 

“What’s that mean for me?” she asked, not quite following.

 

“It means, Rose, that you are far less likely to get sick and you probably won’t age as quickly as an average human,” he replied.

 

Rose sat there, staring at the Doctor, and her jaw dropped a little when she realized what he’d said. She shut her mouth with a click of teeth and looked back at the screen, as if it held answers that she’d understand.

 

“So, I’m… less than human?” she questioned. 

 

“No, no, no, Rose,” he said quickly, grabbing her shoulders gently. “You’re  more than human. All your usual humaness, with a touch of extra. I call it ‘Human Plus.’”

Rose thought about it. This could be good. Less sickness. As for aging a bit slower, people all over paid large sums of money to appear that they were aging a bit slower. But in her case, it meant that she could stay with the Doctor longer.

 

“Are you sure, Doctor? When you say I won’t age as quickly, like how much of a difference are we talking about?” she wondered.

 

“Quite sure.  Given your improved immune system and whatnot, you could get an extra ten or twenty years over other humans from your time,” he responded, fairly confident in his analysis even if there were a few other factors that he hadn’t quite figured out yet.

 

“Oh,” she sighed a bit sadly.  Rose was hoping that the changes might be big enough that she could give him more of that forever that she had promised to stay with him.  He had seemed so hurt when he told her that he had to watch people that he cared about grow old all around him.

 

“What’s the matter?  I thought you’d be happy about that,” he prodded, seeing that something about this was still bothering her.

 

“I am, yeah.  It’s just, ten or twenty years still isn’t much difference to you,” she told him and grasped his hand, twining their fingers together the way they often did when they were walking.

 

“Rose, this isn’t about me.  This is about you.  I’m still not even sure how this all happened,” he admitted.

 

“We see so many things, yeah? It could be anything,” Rose mused. “I’m just glad it’s not gonna give me cancer or something.” She was extremely relieved at that information. 

 

“No, no cancer, not from this. Come on.  Let’s get the sleepy human back to bed,” he suggested and stood up, pulling her with him by their joined hands.

 

“I don’t know, Doctor, my mind is still racing with all this stuff,” she argued. Her yawn gave her away though. Now that she wasn’t terrified of something being wrong with her, the adrenaline had given way to her need to sleep. She still didn’t think she could fall asleep, though. The day had been taxing both emotionally and physically.

 

“Tell you what, why don’t I sit with you a while until you fall asleep, hmm?” the Doctor offered.

 

Rose nodded and tucked some hair behind her ear.  They walked back to her room in silence, both thinking about what might have caused the change in her and what it would mean in the long run.  The Doctor still wanted to figure out the other things that he had noticed, but a few of his tests were still running and would take some time so he would have to wait for those anyway.

 

Rose climbed back under the covers of her bed and the Doctor sat next to her on top of the comforter.  He leaned against her headboard and softly stroked her back until she relaxed enough to fall asleep.  It took quite a while, but eventually, he could hear her breathing and heart rate change to indicate that she was finally sleeping.

 

He stood back up to leave the room, but before he moved away from her still form, he looked down at her. She looked so innocent lying there. 

 

He couldn’t blame her for having trouble sleeping. The past several weeks had been extremely trying. She’d lost her mother and learned she’d have a sibling she’d never meet. They’d almost been killed by the Racnoss.  Then came the moon and his stupid stunt. He’d been technically dead; both hearts stopped. The bodies just earlier that day. They’d seen several thousand fresh corpses, and he knew there’d been millions more, just in that city. 

 

It was among the most sickening sights he’d ever seen, and he’d seen many over his centuries.

 

Now, she had to deal with the fact that she could potentially live quite a bit longer than a normal human lifespan for her time and what was her first worry?  That it wasn’t enough to make a difference for him.  Yes, she was worried that she might die from whatever it was, but he was pretty sure that her concerns there were the same; that she would leave him all alone.

 

Five minutes would have been a difference to him, and yet, hardly anything at the same time. He was being given ten or twenty years, and could possibly get it too, with her increased resiliency.

 

She was also stubborn enough to stay by his side if she wanted.

 

He didn’t dare hope for it, though. Everyone left eventually. They wanted human lives, fell in love, or just couldn’t run anymore.

 

He moved toward the door and was pulled from his melancholy thoughts by the sound of soft whimpering in Rose’s bed.  He moved back to her side and sat on the edge of the bed.  She tossed agitatedly and he knew that she had to be having a nightmare.  The Doctor grasped her shoulder and shook it gently.  “Rose, Rose wake up,” he said firmly.

 

She gasped and pulled herself into a tight ball to protect herself from the images haunting her mind.  Rose began to cry into her pillow as her heart slowed slightly.  The Doctor moved back to his original position next to her and pulled her into his arms, shushing her as he held her close. 

 

Rose became aware of the Doctor’s presence slowly. It wasn’t until he’d pulled her into his arms that she realized it was him there. She grabbed him tightly, burying her face into the tuxedo jacket he was still wearing so that he wouldn’t see her tears. He was rubbing her back soothingly and making very soft shushing noises. 

 

It felt good, and, for once, she decided she didn’t care if anyone saw her crying. 

 

The Doctor began humming a song that she’d never heard before.  It was beautiful and haunting and some of the tonality was so definitely alien that she didn’t think human vocal chords could even mimic the sounds.  The soft melody calmed her slowly and eventually, lulled her back to sleep, still wrapped in his arms.

 

Several hours later, Rose woke, alone in her bed. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and looked around her, trying to get her bearings. She’d dreamed of a red sky, and trees with silver leaves blowing in the wind. It was peaceful, and sad. 

 

She noticed the Doctor’s bowtie laying on the arm of her chair and picked it up. He must have taken it off while he was in there last night. The covers on the other side of the bed were rumpled.

 

The Doctor had been in her room, and not to wake her up. He’d been in her bed with her. 

 

Had he slept there? The thought made her warm.  Rose took a moment to breathe in his scent on the pillow next to hers, confirming he’d been laying there as well, at least for a little while.  It was spicy and familiar and just plain  Doctor.  The underlying scent of him hadn’t changed from how he smelled when she’d first met him.  She wasn’t quite sure how that worked.  Probably something about pheromones and whatnot, but it didn’t matter, it was a smell that drove her crazy most days.

 

Snuggling down into her covers again for a moment, she closed her eyes and imagined that he hadn’t just been on top of the comforter last night but snuggled up with her.  Held her against him and fought all of the monsters in her nightmares away just by being there.  She could be the little spoon to his big spoon and feel his breath on her neck.  She remembered the feeling of his lips on hers when he had kissed her in the hospital.  

 

This was all getting just a little too much for this time of the morning.  The Doctor was likely to burst in and pull her out of bed for an adventure any minute, so Rose decided that it was time for a cold shower.

 

Dressed for the day, Rose walked to the kitchen, needing a cuppa and some food before she went to the console room, and likely, straight out the doors for another adventure. The Doctor strolled in a moment later, whistling happily.

 

“Ah! You’re up!  I have got a fantastic idea for you today, Rose.  You’re going to love it,” he told her with a beaming smile.  She was glad that he didn’t ask her about her nightmares.  She just wanted to keep going and replace all of those horrid images with the wonders of the universe instead.  

 

“Ooh, what?” she asked excitedly. 

 

“You’ll see,” he replied enigmatically. “I don’t know why I never thought of it before.” 

 

Rose sat down at the small table with her bowl of cereal and started munching on it, knowing that he’d not tell her anything else until they had left the TARDIS. 

 

Breakfast went by quickly, neither of them talking about what happened the night before. When they’d both finished and cleaned up the dishes, they made their way to the console room.  She expected the Doctor to start flying them to wherever it was that he had planned to surprise her with, but instead, he approached the doors.

 

“Are we there already?” she wondered.

 

“Oh, yes. We’ve been here for a while,” he answered with a grin. He flung open the doors, and Rose saw the emptiness of space. In one direction, she could see stars as little white pinpricks against the black. To the other side, there was a nebula, with pink and red swirling gasses, twinkling stars being born in its depths.

 

It was a breathtaking sight, but they’d done this sort of thing before, standing at the open TARDIS doors and looking out into open space. Had done it just a few weeks ago twice while Donna was with them. She glanced back at the Doctor.

 

“It’s lovely, Doctor.  But what’s this brilliant idea of yours?” she asked curiously.

 

“Step outside,” he told her. 

 

She looked back outside of the TARDIS, making sure of what she’d seen before turning back to the Doctor. “Um, Doctor. I don’t know what you’re seeing out there, but I’m pretty sure that first step is a doozy,” she told him. 

 

“Yes, it is,” he acknowledged. “You’re going on a spacewalk.” He put his hands in the pockets of his blue suit and rocked back on his heels, looking pleased with himself.

 

“Don’t I need a space suit?” she asked, looking around to see if he had brought out the one he wore on Krop Tor or something. 

 

The Doctor chuckled. “Nah. The shield extends around the TARDIS, plenty of air and I won’t let you float away,” he explained.

 

“Oh, that’s brilliant!” Rose exclaimed. She took a step closer to the edge of the door, and the Doctor took her hand. Rose took that first step, both terrified and exhilarated at the same time. 

 

When her other foot left the TARDIS’ floor, she sort of felt like she was falling, or swimming. Her hair floated out around her like a halo and her top wanted to ride up. She stuffed the front of her shirt into the waistband of her jeans, glad she wasn’t wearing a skirt again. 

 

It took a moment to get used to it, but when she did, it was absolutely amazing. The Doctor lifted their clasped hands above his head and reached for her ankle with his other hand.  He laughed as she squealed when she spun around to face another direction entirely, her view suddenly filled with the beautiful nebula they were orbiting. 

 

Her head was above the top of the TARDIS, and she could see space in all directions if she turned her head. It was quite disorienting, but incredible all the same. 

 

A ship that had previously been hidden by the TARDIS came into view.  It was massive and seemed to have a Union Jack painted on the side. It had huge towers rising up from the hull, with lights lit in random patterns. It looked as if an entire city had been scooped up out of the ground and pasted on top.

 

“Doctor, what’s that?” she called back to him.

 

He looked over in the direction she was pointing and his brow furrowed for a moment in thought. Rose could see the moment he realized what he was seeing. His face lit up.

 

“Now that's interesting. Twenty ninth century. Solar flares roast the Earth, and the entire human race packs its bags and moves out till the weather improves.”

 

“Really?  That seems quite early considering when the Earth is finally destroyed, yeah?” Rose said thoughtfully.

 

“Oh, they come back.  This is just a bit of a vacation.  Forced exploration that pushes the human race out to settle on other planets before some of them come back again,” he explained as he pulled her back into the ship and settled her back onto the floor.

 

“Close the doors, I've found us an adventure. That ship is the United Kingdom of Britain and Northern Ireland. This is it, all of it, bolted together and floating in space. Starship UK. It's Britain, but metal!” he exclaimed. “Ha! Humans! That's not just a ship, that's an idea. That's a whole country, living and laughing and loving and shopping. Searching the stars for a new home.”

 

“And we’re going to have a look?” Rose asked with her tongue touched grin.

 

“Absolutely!”

  
  
  



	14. The Beast Below: Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, we had a lot of fun not only replacing Amy with Rose, but making Eleven sound like Ten. We hope you like the changes that we made too. Please review!

The Beast Below: Part 1

 

The Doctor materialized the TARDIS inside the giant spaceship.  He and Rose found themselves in what appeared to be a marketplace.  There were people crowding everywhere as they rushed through the various stalls.  Several people were riding bicycles and there was a man going around to each of the streetlights and winding them up.

 

“Welcome to London Market. You are being monitored,” a voice sounded over the loudspeaker.

 

“Well, this place is cheery,” Rose commented and wrinkled her nose.  Everything seemed so dirty around them.

 

“Well, I’ve certainly seen cleaner places, but it is a bit crowded, so that makes it difficult,” the Doctor responded, but took note of the coating of grime that seemed to be on everything.  Almost everything.

 

“Something doesn’t feel right,” Rose told the Doctor as they walked through the street.

 

The Doctor hummed in agreement, but wasn’t quite sure what that niggling feeling was.  “The bicycles are nice to see around here, but wind-up street lamps, and washing lines are a bit low tech for a space ship, eh?” he noticed.

 

“London Market is a crime-free zone,” the loudspeaker announced.

 

“Why would they need to  say that?  I mean, wouldn’t you expect everywhere to be crime-free?” Rose wondered.

 

“Take a look at those things,” the Doctor told her as he pointed to an odd little box.  Inside, sat a plastic looking dummy that reminded Rose of a carnival fortune telling machine.  It had a creepy-looking smile on its face as it looked back and forth, monitoring the passing crowd.

 

“Why are those things so clean?” Rose questioned.

 

“Keen eyes, Lewis!  Nobody goes anywhere near them.  They’re terrified, but hide it.  Something is terribly wrong here,” the Doctor pointed out.

 

“There’s something else, Doctor.  Something that makes me feel like it’s not a spaceship for some reason,” Rose told him.

 

The Doctor paused for a moment and looked quite perturbed.  Suddenly, he grabbed a glass of water from a nearby table and placed it on the ground, studying it intently.

 

“What are you doing?” the man whom he had taken it from protested.

 

“Sorry,” the Doctor apologized as he replaced the glass on the table. “We’re umm, checking all the water in this area. There's an escaped fish.”

 

The Doctor grasped Rose’s arm and continued walking with her down the street, but was now headed in a particular direction.

 

“What is it?  Do you know why it feels so off here?” Rose questioned.

 

“There’s no engine vibration,” he told her.

 

“Oh my god.  You’re right, that’s exactly it.  That’s why it doesn’t feel like a ship or a space station or anything,” Rose gasped, remembering that was one of those points that he had directed her to point out to Adam when they took him to Satellite Five.

 

“Come on.  We’re checking out the engine room,” the Doctor stated and started walking a little faster toward the restricted area door.

 

They climbed down the ladder that led to the engine rooms and continued feeling the walls and floors for any signs of vibrations.  There was nothing, save the very slight hum of ventilation fans, however.

 

“Can't be,” the Doctor insisted when they finally got to their destination and pulled out his sonic screwdriver to scan for energy readings nearby.  He knocked on one of the walls and heard nothing but an empty echo, then opened a nearby junction box to find the connections hanging loosely.

 

“Doctor,” Rose whispered when she noticed a glass of water sitting in the middle of the floor.  She tugged on his coat sleeve to get his attention and they both stared at the glass for a moment until they noticed the person standing just the other side of it.  She wore a long, red cape and a white porcelin mask.

 

“The impossible truth in a glass of water. Not many people see it. But you do, don't you, Doctor?” the woman asked.

 

“You know who I am?” the Doctor questioned suspiciously as he positioned himself slightly in front of his companion.

 

“Keep your voice down. They're everywhere. Tell me what you see in the glass,” she whispered urgently and looked over her shoulder as if expecting someone to attack at any moment.  Rose looked back behind them as well, just in case.

 

“Who says I see anything?” he asked.

 

“Don't waste time. At the marketplace, you placed a glass of water on the floor, looked at it, then came straight here to the engine room. Why?” she demanded.

 

“No engine vibration on deck. Even Rose noticed it right away.  Ship this size, engine this big, you'd feel it. The water would move. So, we thought we'd take a look. It doesn't make sense. These power couplings? They're not connected. Look. Look, they're dummies, see? And behind this wall, nothing. It's hollow,” the Doctor replied, tapping the wall to prove his point.

 

“It’s almost as if there’s…” Rose began.

 

“No engine at all,” the woman completed the statement with her.

 

“But it's working. This ship is travelling through space. We saw it,” the Doctor protested.

 

“The impossible truth, Doctor, Miss Tyler. We're travelling among the stars in a spaceship that could never fly,” she told them.

 

“How’s that work?” Rose wondered, narrowing her eyes slightly at the fact that the woman had called her by her last name, which she knew the Doctor hadn’t used since they arrived.

 

“I don't know. There's a darkness at the heart of this nation. It threatens every one of us. Help us, Doctor. You're our only hope,” she pleaded.  “I have to go.”

 

“Who are you? How do we find you again?” the Doctor responded.

 

“I am Liz Ten, and I will find you,” she told them as she handed a small device to Rose. The woman turned and ran away from them down the corridor and out of sight.

 

“That’s rather enigmatic, wouldn’t you say?” the Doctor commented.

 

“Yeah.  Well, Sarge, where do we start?” Rose asked teasingly.  He smirked at her and led the way back toward the marketplace to explore the other curiosities they had noticed earlier.

 

Once up there, Rose looked around and saw it this time. Everyone was scared. There was fear all around them. People rushed by, head down, going straight to their tasks and not lingering as was usual in a place like this.

 

“What’s that thing she gave you?” the Doctor asked her curiously.

 

Rose looked at the device more closely.  It appeared to be a small, handheld computer.  “Looks like it’s got maps and stuff for the whole ship on it,” she told him.

 

As she was looking around, trying to get what information she could about the state of things, The Doctor grabbed her shoulder and pointed, saying, “Look over there,” as if he had found a very important clue.

 

There was a little girl sitting in a row of benches all alone and crying. Rose looked at her, wondering why the little girl was crying. Her instincts warred within her. The compassionate part wanted to go hug the girl and tell her everything was going to be okay. The part of her traumatized by her bratty cousins wondered what she did that she got in trouble for. 

 

“Okay. It’s a little girl?” Rose asked, hoping that she wasn’t missing something behind her that the Doctor was pointing out instead.

“Not just a little girl. She’s crying. Crying silently. You see, children cry because they want attention, because they're hurt or afraid. But when they cry silently, it's because they just can't stop. Any parent knows that.”

 

There it was, another quick mention of who he was before the Time War, before he lost his people. They were coming more frequently, but still rare enough for Rose to note the glimpses into his past. 

 

He grabbed her hand and started walking toward the girl slowly. “There are hundreds of parents walking past. They all see her and not a single one of them's asking her what's wrong,” The Doctor continued his explanation.

 

“They all know,” Rose realized.

 

“Yes, and it's something they don't talk about. Secrets and shadows. They're not helping her, because they’re afraid of something. Something unseen, so it's everywhere. It’s a Police state.”

 

When they were close to the little girl, she stood up suddenly and went to a lift, which opened immediately. She stepped inside and the doors closed before they could follow her. 

 

“Where is she going all of a sudden?” Rose asked. 

 

“I don’t know, but we’ll find out quickly,” the Doctor replied. “We need to ask her about the things in the booths and why they’re everywhere.”

 

They watched the numbers on the lift change quickly, and then stop at deck 207. The pair got into the lift next to it, and followed the little girl, who was the most likely normal person they’d seen that would tell them what was happening.

 

On the new level, they spotted the girl again, moving slowly.  “ You're following me. Saw you watching me at the marketplace,” she accused suddenly, rounding on them.

 

“We wanted to make sure you were okay,” Rose told her.

 

“I’m fine,” the little girl all but snapped at her. "You didn’t need to follow me eighteen decks to make sure of that.”

 

“Why were you crying then?” the Doctor asked bluntly. 

 

“My friend is gone,” she replied and turned to walk away. She didn’t get far. A tent stood in the way, with flashing yellow lights and a keep out sign. A rope held the flaps closed, and there was a padlock on the rope.

 

“Oh, hey, look, it’s Magpie Electricals,” the Doctor said. Rose looked up, and sure enough, there was the sign from the television store where she’d lost her face in 1953.

 

“It’s gotta be a thousand years since then, and Magpie's is still in business?” she asked. 

 

“Apparently,” the Doctor mused. “What’s your name?” he asked the girl suddenly.

 

“Mandy,” she replied immediately.

 

“What’s in there? Do you know?” he asked. 

 

“There's a hole. We have to go back.”

 

“A what?” Rose asked, wondering if she heard right.

 

The Doctor moved to the flap of the tent and bent down, lifting the bottom up. It was tight, and he couldn’t get it lifted up enough to slide in.

 

“Are you stupid?” the little girl- Mandy rebuked him. “There's a hole in the road. We can't go that way. There's a travel pipe down by the airlocks, if you've got stamps. What are you doing?” she asked when the Doctor grabbed the padlock. 

 

Rose moved to join him. A simple hole wouldn’t have a tent erected around it with keep out signs and a padlock.

 

“Don't mind us,” Rose said. “Never could resist a keep out sign.”

 

“What's through here Mandy? What's so scary about a hole?” the Doctor interrogated the little girl, as he pulled his sonic out of his pocket. 

 

When the girl didn’t reply, Rose asked. “Is there something under the road?”

 

“Nobody knows. We're not supposed to talk about it,” Mandy replied, starting to get afraid.

 

“You’re not supposed to talk about what?” Rose pressed, as the sonic warbled.

 

“Below,” Mandy said simply.

 

The Doctor pulled the padlock off the rope and undid the lacing of the tent. “Coming?” he asked both of them. Rose didn’t need to answer, she just took another step toward the tent, waiting for him to open the flap.

 

“No!” the girl said fearfully.

 

“Okay, then. Thank you. You should go home,” Rose told the girl, following the Doctor into the tent.

 

“Stop! You mustn't do that!” Mandy yelled in terror.

 

Rose crawled into the tent with the Doctor. Inside, there was a pulsing red light that barely lit anything up. Rose’s hand landed on an object, and she recognized it as a wind up version of a torch. She gave it a couple of turns and the tent lit up with the beam of light.

 

“Oh, what are you?” The Doctor stood there next to her, looking at what the tent was hiding. There was a hole all right, and out of the hole, there sprouted a tentacle, black looking with glowing spots. 

 

“Oh, that’s just-” Rose started, but was interrupted by the tentacle, lashing out. 

 

They both backed out of the tent quickly, and the Doctor tripped in his haste, knocking both of them to the ground. They looked up to see that they were surrounded by several men in robes. One of them held a fist out to them, and before they could do anything, a gas came out of the ring and knocked them out. 

 

XxXxXxXx

 

Rose woke up, sitting in a chair in the center of a large room. On one wall, there were four screens and two big buttons-one labelled forget, the other labelled protest. Behind her, on the opposite wall, there was another one of those creepy fortune telling booth like things with clowns instead of gypsies. 

 

Before she could even stand up, one of the screens lit up. 

 

“ Welcome to voting cubicle three thirty C. Please leave this installation as you would wish to find it. The United Kingdom recognises the right to know of all its citizens. A presentation concerning the history of Starship UK will begin shortly. Your identity is being verified on our electoral roll. Name, Rose Marion Tyler,” the computer announced.  “Age, thirteen hundred and ten.”

 

“Oh my god,” Rose gasped as she watched the computer retrieving her history.

 

“Marital status,” the computer began and scrolled through its databanks for some time before continuing with, “unknown.”  Rose sighed, slightly hoping for a little bit of future information.

 

A video started up, with a man speaking to the viewer, whoever that may be at the time. 

 

“You are here because you want to know the truth about this starship, and I am talking to you because you're entitled to know. When this presentation has finished, you will have a choice. You may either protest. or forget. If you choose to protest, understand this. If just one percent of the population of this ship do likewise, the programme will be discontinued with consequences for you all. If you choose to accept the situation, and we hope that you will, then press the Forget button. All the information I'm about to give you will be erased from your memory. You will continue to enjoy the safety and amenities of Starship UK, unburdened by the knowledge of what has been done to save you. Here then, is the truth about Starship UK, and the price that has been paid for the safety of the British people. May God have mercy on our souls.”

 

Then the presentation began. It was fast with a lot of information, but as every second ticked by, Rose became more and more angry.

 

“Like hell,” she mumbled and decided that the Doctor would definitely have something to say about all of this.  “Doctor!” she shouted as loudly as possible, knowing that he would be trying to get to her.

 

The door opened suddenly, and she saw both Mandy and the Doctor before the Doctor stepped in. 

 

XxXxXxXx

 

The Doctor woke up, slumped in a chair sitting in the middle of a room with screens on one side and one of those booths on the other side. He immediately jumped up out of the chair and started looking around. 

 

The absence of either of the girls that had been with him before losing consciousness had him worried and he pulled out his sonic to scan his surroundings.  There was a human female, approximately Rose’s age in the room next door and a young girl just outside. 

 

He adjusted his settings and found a concentration of Artron energy on the female next door, confirming that it was indeed Rose. 

 

The only obvious exit to the room was the door. He walked over to it, tried the door handle, and found that it opened easily.

 

The young girl, Mandy, looked at him in shock.  “You were supposed to be voting.  It’s supposed to take longer than that,” she told him.

 

“Oh, well, it probably didn’t recognize me as a citizen.  Is Rose in there then?” he responded, pointing at the door next to the one he came out of.

 

At Mandy’s nod, he immediately tried to get through the door, but found it locked.  He used his sonic to work his way through the various security protocols that were keeping him out and it took several minutes.  

 

As he worked on the door, he asked Mandy a few questions. “What exactly was I meant to be voting about?”

 

“I don’t know. I'm not eligible to vote yet. I'm twelve. Any time after you're sixteen, you're allowed to the see the film and make your choice. And then once every five years,” she told him.

 

“Hmm.  But no one ever talks about what it is?” he wondered.

 

“No one remembers.  They all choose to forget once they see the film,” she admitted.

 

“Forget?!  Why in the world would they do that?” he asked incredulously.

 

“How do you not know about this?” the little girl asked.

 

“I’m not from around here,” he replied. Just as he was about to open the door, he heard Rose exclaim, “Like hell!” and shout for him from inside. 

 

“Doctor!  You’re not gonna believe this,” Rose growled.

 

“It won’t show the film for me, what can you tell me?” he questioned.

 

Rose noticed that the clown in the booth went from smiling to looking angry. “Doctor,” she said in a warning voice, pointing at the booth. He looked over at it, and frowned. Just then, the door slammed shut, trapping the two of them inside, and a second later, the floor opened up beneath them. 

 

The Doctor and Rose slid dangerously fast through a terrifying chute and landed in what seemed like a swamp.  There was knee deep liquid all around them with unknown things floating in it.  The smell was nauseating to say the least.

 

“Argh! High speed air cannon. Awful way to travel,” the Doctor said as he got to his feet and helped Rose up as well.

 

“Where are we now?” Rose asked, looking around her, trying not to throw up.

 

“Six hundred feet down, twenty miles laterally, puts us at the heart of the ship. I'd say Lancashire. What is this place?  Sort of like a cave, but it can’t be.  We’re still on the ship,” the Doctor commented.

 

“It’s their trash dump,” Rose said, looking around.

 

“Yes, but only food refuse. Organic, coming through feeder tubes from all over the ship.  I would say they were composting, but the environment’s all wrong for that here,” he added.

 

“The floor's squishy, like a bouncy castle,” Rose commented.

 

“Feeder tubes… But feeding what, though? Oh,” he said as his face dropped and he realized where they were.  Rose was not going to like this.

 

“Okay, this is definitely the most disgusting place I’ve ever been,” Rose admitted. 

 

They heard an animal like noise way in the distance, and both of them turned to face it. 

“Rose, we have a bit of a problem,” he told her.

 

“Yeah, nothing new there, Doctor.  So, what is it this time?” she asked him pointedly.

 

“That’s not a floor. It really is not a cave. It's a tongue,” he explained and braced himself for a Tyler slap.

 

“A tongue!” Rose shouted. “We’re in a mouth! A giant mouth!”

 

“Um, basically, yeah,” he said sheepishly and assessed their situation.

 

“How do we get out of the giant mouth?” Rose said

 

“Well, still working on that.  Incidentally, how big is this beastie? It's beautiful! Blimey, if this is just the mouth, I'd love to see the stomach. Though not right now,” he added thoughtfully.

 

“In your own time, then.  I’d rather not become lunch,” Rose grumbled.

 

“Okay, it's being fed through surgically implanted feeder tubes, so the normal entrance is…” the Doctor began.

 

Rose pointed behind him towards a giant set of teeth, blocking their way out. “Closed for business.  Maybe we could slip through, yeah?” Rose asked hopefully and took a step towards the teeth and away from the other end.

 

“No! Stop! Don't move,” the Doctor ordered. The big tongue had started moving. “Too late. It's already started.”

 

“What has?” Rose asked, voice a little high pitched. 

 

“Swallow reflex,” he informed her and adjusted the setting on his sonic before aiming it down.

 

“What’s the plan?” Rose asked worriedly.

 

“I'm vibrating the chemo-receptors,” he told her, his voice slightly higher which gave away his nervousness.

 

“And that means what exactly?” she pressed, knowing that he only talked to her like that when he was hiding something that she wouldn’t like.

 

“It’s, er, well… The eject button,” he admitted as the floor began to shake slightly and they heard a low rumbling sound.

 

“No. Oh, no,” Rose groaned and looked toward the throat, where a wave was coming toward them. 

 

“Right, then. Hold your breath.”

  
  
  



	15. The Beast Below Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter shows the two reasons we wanted to use The Beast Below.
> 
> We've loved reading your reviews, especially the speculation. Thank you all!

 

Rose woke up suddenly, laying in an unfamiliar tunnel.

"It's alright," the Doctor assured her as he helped her sit up. "Nothing's broken."

"Ugh, you owe me for this, Doctor," she grumbled and squeezed the disgusting liquid from her hair. "Where are we?"

"At a guess, I'd have to say it's an overspill pipe," the Doctor replied. "Certainly smells like one."

"Can we get out?" she questioned, looking around for an exit of some kind.

The Doctor gestured behind him and Rose's eyes refocused to see the door. "There's one exit, well, two if you count the way we came in, but I don't think we want to go back that way. So, one door, one door switch, but to go through it, we have to forget everything we saw down here."

There was a big 'forget' button on the wall next to the door. Rose groaned, she really didn't like things messing with her head.

"That's the carrot. And, here's the stick," he realized as the robots in the two booths at the end of the hall lit up. "There's a creature living in the heart of this ship. What's it doing there?" he demanded and the faces turned from smiles to frowns.

"No," he said. "No, no, no. You think that's going to work on me, but it's not. So, come on. Big old beast below decks. Rule breakers and protesters get shoved down its throat. That how it works?" The heads turned around again, and the new faces were scowling.

"Oh, stop it. We're not leaving and we're not forgetting. So, just what are you going to do about it? Stick out your tongues, huh?" he asked confidently.

"You had to ask that, didn't you?" Rose sighed as the booths opened and the scowling robots stood up to go after them. "Doctor?" Rose said, calling attention to the woman they had seen earlier, who had stepped through the door. She stepped right up between the pair and shot both of the creatures from the booths.

"Well, look who showed up. You look much better without the mask," the Doctor said.

"Doctor, Rose, lovely to see you again. Shame about the sick. You know Mandy, yeah? She's very brave," Liz Ten greeted them and showed them that their little friend, Mandy, had joined her.

"How did you find us?" the Doctor asked.

"Bet it was this thing, yeah?" Rose asked and pulled the device the woman had given her earlier out of the pocket in her jacket.

"Right you are. Been listening in. Nice moves on the hurl escape. So, what's the big fella doing here?" she responded with a wink at Rose.

"Well, you're over sixteen, you've voted. Whatever this is, you've chosen to forget about it," the Doctor argued.

"No. Never forgot, never voted, not technically a British subject," Liz denied.

"Then who and what are you, and how do you know us?" the Doctor questioned.

"You two are a bit hard to miss, love. Mysterious strangers, M O consistent with higher alien intelligence, great hair. I've been brought up on the stories. My whole family was," Liz answered cheekily.

"Your family?" the Doctor asked.

"They're repairing. Doesn't take them long. Let's move," she ordered.

They left the small tunnel behind and stepped into a basement. The Doctor followed right on her heels with Rose bringing up the rear.

"The Doctor. Old drinking buddy of Henry Twelve. Tea and scones with Liz Two. Vicky was a bit on the fence about you two, weren't she? Knighted and exiled you both on the same day. And let's not get into how much the First disliked Dame Rose, here. Wanted your head, she did!" Liz Ten laughed.

"Just what the hell did I do?" Rose asked. "No, don't answer that."

"Liz Ten," the Doctor breathed in sudden realization.

"Liz Ten, yeah. Elizabeth the Tenth. And down!" she shouted as she turned quickly to shoot the things once again that were following them. Returning her blasters to their holsters on her hips, she added, "I'm the bloody Queen, mate. Basically, I rule."

They walked through several hallways as she guided them to safety. When they reached a crossroads, there was some kind of access shaft, with one of the dark tentacles thrashing violently. The Doctor could hear the creature screaming, but knew that it was out of the range of hearing for the humans.

"There's a high-speed Vator through there. Oh, yeah. There's these things. Any ideas?" she queried.

"One," Rose replied coldly. The Doctor looked at her questioningly. "I need to tell you what I saw in the voting booth, but I don't think she should hear just yet," she whispered to him.

"Rose, I could," he began and tapped her on the side of the head indicating that he could telepathically see her memories without anyone else knowing. She nodded and closed her eyes, preparing to feel him in her mind again. He took a steadying breath and placed the fingers of his left hand on her left temple, acting as if he'd thrown an arm over her shoulder.

Rose tried to call up everything she wanted him to see, like she had before. She showed him what she saw while in the voting booth. There was a lot of stuff to sort through, but she was sure he'd be able to get the story. His brow furrowed in anger as he learned the story from Rose's mind in just seconds.

He understood now why Rose was hesitant to trust the queen with what she had learned, but he got the sense that Liz Ten didn't know all of this for some reason. Maybe she had been forced to forget like everyone else and didn't realize it. For the moment, he would at least pretend to trust her.

"It's all one creature, the same one we were inside, reaching out. It must be growing through the mechanisms of the entire ship," he answered.

"What, like an infestation?" she asked. "Someone's helping it. Feeding it. Feeding my subjects to it!" she growled in anger. "Come on. Got to keep moving," she ordered.

"What's the plan, Doctor?" Rose asked him quietly as they watched her go ahead of them.

"Play along for now, she may have had her memory wiped as well and we need to get to the bottom of this," he replied.

"We have to save the Star Whale," she insisted.

"I know," he agreed and moved to follow Liz and Mandy.

When they arrived at the queen's chambers, Elizabeth the tenth showed her hospitality and directed them to where they could clean the sick off of themselves. The Doctor sonicked their clothes clean and dry while Rose washed out her hair quickly. When they were both presentable, they returned to the main room where the queen and Mandy were waiting for them.

"Why all the glasses?" the Doctor asked, gesturing to the corner, where dozens of glasses with varying amounts of water sat on the floor.

"To remind me every single day that my government is up to something, and it's my duty to find out what," she replied.

"A queen who is going undercover to investigate her own kingdom?" the Doctor asked.

"Secrets are being kept from me. I don't have a choice. Ten years I've been at this. My entire reign. And you've achieved more in one afternoon," she lamented.

"How old were you when you came to the throne?" the Doctor wondered, picking up the porcelain mask she'd been wearing when they had first met her.

"Forty. Why?" she questioned.

"What? You're fifty?" Rose asked. "Seriously?"

"Yeah, they slowed my body clock. Keeps me looking like the stamps," she explained proudly. Rose looked over at the Doctor, wondering about how that was possible, but he was busy looking at the delicate mask he held in his hand.

"And you always wear this in public?" the Doctor asked, examining the mask closely.

"Undercover's not easy when you're me. The autographs, the bunting," she replied offhandedly.

"Air-balanced porcelain. Stays on by itself, because it's perfectly sculpted to your face," the Doctor deducted.

"Yeah? So what?" she wondered.

"Oh, Liz. So everything," he groaned. Surely the ruler of the country could put these things together better than that.

A group of men in dark cloaks entered then. The Doctor and Rose recognized them as the same group that had knocked them out after exploring the hole in the road.

"What are you doing? How dare you come in here?" Liz protested angrily.

"Ma'am, you have expressed interest in the interior workings of Starship UK. You will come with us now," one of the men insisted.

"Why would I do that?" she challenged, and the man's face turned around to reveal one of the scowling creatures that had chased them before.

"How can they do that?" Rose questioned, grasping at the Doctor's arm worriedly.

"Half Smiler, half human," the Doctor decided.

"I thought those were some kind of robot," Rose admitted.

"Whatever you creatures are, I am still your queen. On whose authority is this done?" Liz demanded angrily.

"The highest authority, Ma'am," he replied unperturbed.

"I am the highest authority," she protested.

"Yes, ma'am. You must go now, Ma'am," he agreed.

"Where?" the queen asked.

"The Tower, Ma'am,' the smiler/human hybrid said.

The Doctor, Rose, Mandy, and Liz all followed the robed man down to a dark room. They passed a grating that had tentacles poking out of it. They were flailing around, like they were reaching for something.

"Okay, so, where are we?" Rose asked.

"This would be the lowest point of good 'ol Starship UK: the dungeon," the Doctor replied, barely concealing his anger. Rose grabbed his hand and squeezed it in support.

"Ma'am," the smiler hybrid said, indicating that they had reached their destination.

"Hawthorne. So this is where you hid yourself away. I think you've got some explaining to do," Elizabeth the Tenth said, crossing her arms.

"There are children down here," the Doctor pointed out. "Why?"

"Protesters and citizens of limited value are fed to the beast. For some reason, it won't eat the children. You're the first adults it's spared. You're very lucky," Hawthorne explained.

"Yeah, look at us. Torture chamber of the Tower of London. Lucky, lucky, lucky. Except it's not a torture chamber, is it? Weelll, except it is. Except it isn't. It all depends on your point of view," the Doctor responded.

As they walked further into the room, they saw an opening in the floor that revealed what appeared to be access to a giant brain below them. There was some kind of machine periodically sending electrical charges through it.

"What's that?" the Queen wondered.

"Well, like I say, it depends on your point of view," he began as he circled the gruesome device, hands in his pockets. "It's either the exposed pain centre of big fella's brain, being tortured relentlessly."

"I think I'm going to be sick," Rose commented quietly as she stared at the exposed brain tissue.

"Or?" Liz Ten prompted.

"Or it's the gas pedal, the accelerator. Starship UK's go faster button," the Doctor concluded.

"I don't understand," she told him.

"Don't you? Try to. Go on. The spaceship that could never fly. No vibration on deck. This creature, this poor, trapped, terrified creature. It's not infesting you, it's not invading, it's what you have instead of an engine. And this place down here is where you hurt it, where you torture it, day after day, just to keep it moving. Tell you what. Normally, it's above the range of human hearing. This is the sound none of you wanted to hear," the Doctor ranted angrily and used his sonic screwdriver to translate the sounds of the creature into their hearing range.

Rose cringed at the sound of the poor creature, silently vowing that they would help it one way or another.

"Stop it. Who did this?" the Queen demanded.

"We act on instructions from the highest authority," Hawthorne replied enigmatically.

"I am the highest authority. The creature will be released, now," she ordered, but none of the men moved to do anything. "I said now! Is anyone listening to me?"

The Doctor sighed. It seemed like her subjects wouldn't explain, so that left it to him. "Liz. Your mask."

"What about my mask?" she questioned.

"Look at it. It's old. At least two hundred years old, I'd say," he told her and Rose gasped as she realized what he was saying.

"Yeah? It's an antique. So?" Liz wondered, still not making the connection.

"Yeah," the Doctor replied. "It's an antique made by craftsmen over two hundred years ago. But somehow, it's perfectly sculpted to your face? Oh, Elizabeth, they slowed your body clock, all right, but you're not fifty. Closer to three hundred, I'd say. And it's been a long old reign."

"Nah, it's ten years. I've been on this throne ten years," the queen denied.

"Ten years, yeah. Except those were the same ten years, over and over again, always leading you here."

"Look," Rose said to the woman, who was staring at them. She gestured to two buttons on a console. One of them had 'forget' printed on it. The other said, 'abdicate."

"What have you done?" Elizabeth asked Hawthorne in accusation.

"Only what you have ordered. We work for you, Ma'am. The Winders, the Smilers, all of us," Hawthorne replied.

The screen next to the buttons came on, and the queen's face popped up.

"If you are watching this. If I am watching this, then I have found my way to the Tower Of London. The creature you are looking at is called a Star Whale. Once, there were millions of them. They lived in the depths of space and, according to legend, guided the early space travellers through the asteroid belts. This one, as far as we are aware, is the last of its kind. And what we have done to it breaks my heart. The Earth was burning. Our sun had turned on us and every other nation had fled to the skies. Our children screamed as the skies grew hotter. And then it came, like a miracle. The last of the Star Whales. We trapped it, we built our ship around it, and we rode on its back to safety. If you wish our voyage to continue, then you must press the Forget button. Be again the heart of this nation, untainted. If not, press the other button. Your reign will end, the Star Whale will be released, and our ship will disintegrate. I hope I keep the strength to make the right decision."

"Doctor, what are we going to do?" Rose whispered when it looked like the Queen was frozen with indecision.

"Ok. Options, options, options. Think, think, think, think, think. One, I let the Star Whale continue in unendurable agony for hundreds more years. B, I kill everyone on this ship. Three, I murder a beautiful, innocent creature as painlessly as I can. And then I find a new name, because I won't be the Doctor any more," he rambled rather defeatedly.

"Why can't we just set it free?" Rose questioned.

"The ship would be stranded in the middle of deep space. Everyone would die. That would be option two that I mentioned," the Doctor told her, nearly shouting his answer at the other people in the room.

"But could we get them an engine somehow? Or maybe ask the Star Whale if it would mind taking them somewhere first before it leaves?" Rose suggested.

"Ask it? Ask it how? How do you communicate with a creature like that?" the Doctor argued.

"I don't know, Doctor. I'm just trying to help. I can't stand the idea that the poor creature has been tortured for so long and everyone willingly turns a blind eye just so they can get on with their lives in ignorance. This is what we do, Doctor. We make the tough decisions because no one else will," Rose countered, her temper rising at his attitude.

"There must be something we can do, some other way," Liz pleaded.

"Timmy! You made it, you're okay. It's me, Mandy," the young girl called to one of the little boys.

One of the tentacles that was flailing wildly suddenly tapped her on the shoulder and Rose watched as the children stroked it gently. It seemed to like the children and she remembered that it wouldn't harm them.

"Doctor! The kids! It won't eat the kids! What if it came on purpose?" Rose said in sudden realization.

"What? The kids? The KIDS! Oh, Rose, you're right. We don't need to communicate with it, we just need to give it a chance," the Doctor responded and dashed over to the control panel. He grabbed Liz Ten's arm and smashed her hand on the button marked 'Abdicate.'

There was a loud roaring sound, and the whole ship shook violently. Rose had a moment of panic, wondering if it had been the right thing to do after all, when everything settled down.

"What happened?" Liz asked, shocked.

"We've increased speed," Hawthorne replied incredulously.

She could hear a different sound now. The whale's song was audible to her, and it sounded happy.

"Yeah. That happens when the engine isn't being knocked about," Rose responded coldly.

"It's still here. I don't understand," Liz said.

"The Star Whale came to you all on its own. You didn't have to trap it or torture it. That was all you, just you!" Rose shouted. "It came because the kids were in trouble. Think about it! The timing. The way it reacts to the children! If it's really the last of it's kind, it wouldn't want to see others suffer."

There was a lot of cleanup and many explanations to be made, but as usual, the Doctor and Rose left that to the people who had made the mess to begin with. Liz promised that there would be no more secrets kept from her subjects and that they would do their best to take care of the creature that had saved all of their lives and continued to keep them safe on their journey.

The Doctor stood at a wall of windows, looking out at the nebula they had been floating near just a few hours before. He had almost destroyed a precious and ancient life, and he'd been stopped and shown a different way. As usual, Rose saw the solutions that always eluded him.

He saw Rose coming up behind him in the reflection of the glass and turned toward her..

"You know, the Star Whale's song is beautiful now," Rose sighed as she walked toward him.

"You can hear that?" he asked.

"Yeah, sounds a bit like the TARDIS does sometimes," she answered.

"You hear the TARDIS too?" he queried.

"Yeah," Rose said, wondering what was going on in his mind.

"How do you hear her?" he asked

"I don't know, It's like hums and feelings and whatnot," Rose replied.

He thought for a minute. "Oh," he realized.

"Oh, what?" Rose asked, eyebrow raised.

"That explains what I wasn't understanding about some of your results earlier," he explained. "You're telepathic!" he exclaimed. "Well, slightly telepathic. If you were a strong telepath, we'd have known before. Doesn't change anything," he assured her.

"It doesn't?" Rose wondered. If it didn't change anything, that was okay.

"Nope," he replied, popping the 'p'. He turned back toward the huge window and put his hands in his pockets. "So, what've you got there?" he asked.

She held out Liz's porcelain mask. "A gift from Queen Elizabeth the Tenth," she said.

"Long live the Queen," the Doctor joked, taking the delicate mask from Rose and slipping it in his pocket.

"So, they stopped her aging," Rose pointed out. "Gave her a longer life."

"A longer life's not always a better one," the Doctor replied, still looking out the window. "In the end, you just get tired. Tired of the struggle. Tired of losing everything that matters to you. Tired of watching everything turn to dust." He finally turned back toward Rose. "In the end, the only certainty is that you end up alone," he finished.

"What if that wasn't the case?" Rose asked, screwing up her courage.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"I've got a little more time to give you now. What if I had more?" Rose brushed one of his bangs back with the others. "What if you didn't end up alone?" She cupped his face with the same hand and brushed her thumb over his cheek.

The Doctor grabbed her wrist and stared into her eyes, shocked.

"I couldn't ask that of anyone," he told her. "I definitely couldn't ask it of you."

"You aren't," Rose said simply.

He stared into her eyes, stunned for a moment that she'd even considered offering that, much less that she'd actually offered. He could see fear in her eyes, her heart rate was elevated, and she was breathing a little hard.

He moved a little bit closer and asked, "You know what you're offering?"

"Your forever," she replied simply. "I've already had some changes. My life's already been extended a little. What's a bit more?"

"We're talking centuries, Rose. Not a decade or two. You'll lose everyone else," he informed her.

"I've already lost everyone else who's truly important," Rose told him. "Loss is part of life."

"But over time, the losses-" the Doctor started.

"Yeah, and I'm sure each one will hurt. But think of all the people I'd know that I wouldn't have otherwise. All the good I could do," Rose interrupted. She stroked his cheek with her thumb. "You wouldn't be alone," she whispered. He could still feel the signs of her fear, and realized that she was afraid of being rejected.

The Doctor closed the last few inches between them and placed a soft, lingering kiss to her lips. He pulled back, then put his forehead against hers, eyes closed, trying to remember all the reasons that this was a Very Bad Idea.

"Doctor," Rose whispered.

He brought his lips against hers again, in a fierce kiss, wrapping his arms around her waist to pull her against him.

Rose squeaked in surprise at his actions, but quickly returned the kiss and tangled her fingers in his hair.


	16. A Little Bit Different

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now, the rating goes up.
> 
> This is pretty NSFW

 

The Doctor kissed her softly.

It wasn't the first, or even the second time he'd kissed her, though, and she was sure this time was going to end up like the others. He'd pull back, walk off, and there'd be no more mention of it.

This time was different, though. When he pulled back from the kiss, he put his forehead to hers and closed his eyes.

"Doctor?" she asked, in a near whisper. Suddenly, his lips were on hers again, in a passionate kiss.

Rose was thoroughly enjoying being snogged to within an inch of her life, when all of a sudden, the Doctor broke away, leaving her rather dazed for a moment. He grabbed her hand tightly and pulled her behind him as he dashed back towards the TARDIS. It was all she could do not to stumble over her own feet as she tried to keep up with his frantic pace.

He let go of her hand and opened the TARDIS door, holding it open for her so she could step through first. Once inside, he sent them into the Vortex, not looking at or speaking to her. His lack of words scared her.

After a moment, his gaze finally met hers and Rose felt her breath hitch. His eyes were dark and he licked his lips slightly as he looked at her. She took a few tentative steps toward him and he met her quickly. The Doctor wrapped his arms back around her and instantly his mouth was upon hers again.

He seemed to be doing a thorough examination of the inside of her mouth with his tongue, but she needed to ask something, so she turned her head slightly, prompting him to trail kisses down her neck instead.

"Doctor," she sighed. She'd meant that to come out as a question.

"Mmmm, Rose," he hummed against her skin.

"Are we? Umm, I mean, can we?" Rose wondered, unsure if this was going where she thought this was going. She had wondered for a bit if he was asexual for all that he seemed able to avoid all physical affections previously.

"Oh, yes,," he groaned. He continued kissing her neck and sucking on her earlobe for a bit, making Rose wonder if they would ever make it to a bedroom. But she occupied herself for the moment by running her fingers through his hair and squeezing the backside that she had been admiring for a very long time.

The Doctor's hands had found their way under the back of her shirt, and slowly moved up. He was fumbling with the clasp on her bra, when she interrupted him.

"Umm, Doctor? We could probably both use a proper shower, yeah? All that stuff got all over us earlier," Rose suggested. She wanted to have a chance at licking several parts of his body at some point, but their recent adventure had not been clean.

The Doctor froze at her suggestion. "You want to stop?" he asked her, clearly not happy with the idea.

"No! I just thought, maybe, we could. Well, you know, take these activities into the shower?" Rose explained, slightly unsure of herself despite the bold invitation.

"Oh! Right. Of course! I think I may have read something about that somewhere. Sex in a shower. Seems a bit dangerous and possibly uncomfortable, but we're brilliant. I'm sure we can make it work," he responded with a beaming smile.

Rose pulled him along this time, sure she was dreaming. She hoped to keep this one going for some time. She led him towards her room, but he suddenly decided to take the lead again and pulled her off in a different direction.

"My shower is bigger. And I've got a waterfall!" he boasted.

"A waterfall?" she asked.

"Oh, yes," he replied, grinning. He didn't elaborate and Rose decided she'd find out when they got there.

When they finally entered his en suite, Rose looked around the room in awe. It was enormous. There really was a waterfall inside his shower as well as several other shower heads, all of which were already running for them. She noticed after a couple seconds that the Doctor was trying to remove his Converse, while hopping awkwardly on one foot. His tie was pulled loose and his jacket had already been tossed on the floor.

"Were you going to shower with your clothes on?" he questioned with a cheeky wink as he finally pulled one of his shoes off triumphantly. "Could be interesting, but wet clothes are so hard to remove."

"You think you're so smart! Bet I can be in there first," she countered as she quickly pulled her shirt over her head and kicked her trainers to the side. It wasn't romantic, but the whole situation was just so them.

She found herself pinned to the wall right after she kicked her second trainer off. His lips once again finding her pulse point.

"You're cheating," she accused breathlessly.

"All's fair in love and war," he mumbled against her shoulder as his hands squeezed her bum playfully.

Deciding to change the nature of their game slightly, she reached between them to unfasten his trousers. He gasped slightly and kissed her again as she continued with her task. She fumbled blindly for a bit, but eventually pulled his zip down and allowed them to fall to the floor where he kicked them away as if they had caused him great offense.

His hands found the clasp on her bra again, just as hers started on the buttons of his Oxford. He undid the hooks one at a time, trying to keep kissing her as he did it, but he had to break away eventually, so he could see to get the last one.

"I'll get better at this! Just need a bit of practice," he assured her nervously.

"Oh, I'm sure we can work something out," Rose laughed, easing the tension slightly. She undid the last two buttons of his shirt and frowned at the t-shirt underneath. "So many layers," she said while pulling the hem of the new shirt up.

"Touch telepath. It's a bit of a barrier against it," he admitted, shrugging off the newly unbuttoned shirt. He then removed the t shirt, and she ran her hand down his bare chest.

"But we're touching all the time," she responded, slightly confused.

"Don't want any barriers with you," the Doctor said, gazing into her eyes as he brought his hand to the front of her jeans. A flick of the wrist, and the button was undone.

Rose removed her jeans quickly and they were both down to only their pants. They both stood silently for a moment as they looked at each other. Feeling suddenly bold, Rose slipped her thumbs into the waistband of her knickers and pulled them down. The Doctor stared at her in awe.

"You're so beautiful, Rose," he whispered.

She walked over to him slowly and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, pulling him down to kiss her again. He wasn't quite sure where to put his hands for a moment, but eventually settled them on her waist and caressed the soft skin of her back.

She started maneuvering them to the shower. Not that they ever ran out of hot water in the TARDIS, but it did look very inviting. The water hit them at the same time that he realized his pants were still on.

The Doctor reached for the last scrap of material, while still trying to keep his mouth fastened to hers. He had to release her lips though to pull the garment down to the floor. It had gotten wet and didn't slide against his skin easily, but he tossed them aside with a wide grin and stood upright to face Rose again.

"See? Wet fabric doesn't-" Rose kissed him to prevent any further rambling, and in a second, she'd been pulled against his wet body. She groaned and reached down between them to grasp the erection that poked against her stomach, but her fingers met something wholly unfamiliar. Rose broke their kiss to look down in confusion.

"What?" she questioned as she stared.

"Is… is there… something wrong?" he stuttered worriedly and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Not wrong. But, um, not what I was expecting?" Rose admitted. Every other part of him looked human from the outside, so it threw her off that he was different in that area. The size and shape were familiar enough, but there were dozens of small, white bumps all over. She wasn't sure if she should be worried about just how different things might function.

"Oh, well, I guess I forgot to mention. I'm just a little bit different, but it won't hurt you, promise! It's just a vestigial trait that was partially lost in evolution over time once my people couldn't procreate through traditional means," he explained nervously.

"Can I?" she asked, reaching for him again. He nodded and when she wrapped her fingers around him, he groaned loudly. She lightly stroked, feeling the little bumps against her palm. They were hard, but not sharp or anything. It might actually feel nice inside her, she thought.

"I-It-oh," the Doctor stuttered, then gave up on speech.

Grinning at her ability to finally render him properly speechless, Rose released him and reached for the bottle of body wash. After she poured a generous amount into her hand, she rubbed her hands together and made quite a show of spreading the soap down her body before returning her slippery fingers to his body.

She grabbed his hands and pulled them to her, letting him know it was fine to touch her, as he seemed to be afraid all of a sudden. She then kneaded the soap left on her fingers over the smattering of hair on his chest.

The Doctor ran his hands over her body. Down her arms, across her stomach, and around to her bum. He squeezed her backside gently. He had admired her body covertly since the day that they had met and had longed to feel her like this for ages. They washed each other quickly. Their bodies slid against each other, slick with the suds from the body wash and he pulled her under the spray to rinse it off. He'd had enough of this and wanted to get to the main event.

He grabbed a towel and wrapped it around her, using it to pull her from the shower instead of dry her off. Rose squeaked in surprise at his sudden movements, then giggled as he pulled her against him. "In a hurry?" she asked.

"Yep," he replied brightly as he moved backwards toward the bed in the room next door, taking her along with him.

He pushed her on the bed, the towel landing beneath her, and began kissing all over her body, licking the droplets of water off of her skin that he'd not let dry. The Doctor took his time admiring all of the places he had longed to touch, now that they weren't hidden from him. Rose groaned as she revelled in being the centre of attention to the oral fixation that she had dreamed about for so long. Really, the way he licked everything had almost driven her mad with desire, and now she was on the receiving end of that tongue.

He moved up her legs, skipping over the spot she'd wanted him to touch most. She moaned and whispered, "Please."

"Uh, uh, oh impatient one," he teased, then dipped his tongue into her navel before traveling up higher.

"Tease," she chastised and dug her fingers into his wet hair, trying to pull his head towards her breasts. As much as he loved feeling her running her fingers through his hair, he ducked away and ghosted his lips over her skin, blowing softly on it. The act caused little goose bumps in the wake of his movements. He hummed in satisfaction at the response and continued his exploration, trying to find various ways to bring her pleasure.

He licked the droplets from the underside of her breasts, watching her reactions. The closer he got to a spot she wanted him, the more anticipatory her look became. When he licked a nipple, she gasped, and he paid some more attention to the spot before moving to the other side.

After spending a little while admiring her breasts, the Doctor found that his own body was demanding some attention. He pressed himself against Rose's thigh, hoping the bit of friction would help him regain enough control to keep exploring, but her skin was so soft and smooth. He couldn't help but rub against her several times and found that his need was only becoming more urgent.

"Inside, Doctor, please," Rose panted as she reached to pull his hips against her, lining them up properly.

He nodded and shifted so that he was positioned over her, leaning up on his elbows so that he wouldn't squish her and carefully pushed inside. Rose moaned loudly at the slightly unfamiliar texture of him, but she seemed to enjoy it, so he thrust slowly a few times.

She was so hot; her human body was several degrees warmer than his own and he revelled in the difference. He held her against him, with as much skin contact as possible and kissed her.

Rose wrapped her legs around his waist and pulled herself against him in rhythm with his movements. The little bumps all over his shaft massaged her from the inside and she thought she might lose her mind at how amazing he felt.

He started thrusting faster, and they gasped at each movement. Rose's body started to tremble as basic instinct took control. This wasn't going to last long for her at least.

"Rose. Close. Are you?" he asked breathlessly. She nodded against his shoulder and clutched him tightly. The very idea that she was pleasing him so quickly sent her over the edge and her muscles clenched around him.

He grasped her hip and thrust a bit harder as he basked in the feeling of her body spasming around him, squeezing his length. Just a few thrusts, and he came into her, murmuring in his own language. A few seconds later, he all but collapsed on top of her, holding himself up on his elbows just enough to keep his weight off of her. He buried his face in her neck for a second while he came to himself again.

The Doctor turned onto his side and pulled her back against him, then reached to pull the covers over them both. Rose hummed happily and snuggled back into his embrace. Neither said anything for quite a while, just enjoying the afterglow of making love. The Doctor was drawing little circles on her shoulder and arm as they lay there. She imagined that he was writing endearments in his language on her skin.

Suddenly, there was a soft rumbling noise. Rose thought for a moment that he might have fallen asleep and was snoring, but he was still drawing his fingers over her in deliberate movements, so she turned her head to have a look at him. The Doctor wore a blissful smile as he looked back at her, but the sound continued. A sudden realization came to her.

"Doctor, are you purring?" she questioned curiously.

His eyebrows raised in shock for a moment and it looked like he might try to deny it. The sound stopped completely and the hand that had been stroking her arm moved to rub the back of his neck nervously. "I, um, well… yes?" he stuttered.

Rose smiled widely and turned around to face him on the bed. "That is the most adorable thing, in the universe!" she exclaimed and wrapped her arm around him..

"Is it?" he asked insecurely. "I mean, you don't mind? You don't think it's silly or anything?"

"I think it's so sweet that you are so happy and relaxed with me that you were purring. Like my own fluffy little kitten," she told him.

"Oi! I'm not a kitten! Look at this manly body. I'm a virile tiger, or, or a panther even!" he protested.

"More like a bouncy Tigger," she giggled.

"Well, whereas you humans descended from apes, Gallifreyan ancestors were slightly more feline in their development. Not that they were cats exactly. On Gallifrey, the animal species weren't quite the same, but I suppose if there were an Earth species that would be closest in development, it would be feline-ish," he explained.

"Is that why you're different, um, down there?" she asked shyly.

"Rose Tyler, are you embarrassed to talk about my anatomy?" he teased.

"Well, I," she stumbled over her thoughts for a moment. It's not that she was embarrassed exactly, but he had always avoided conversations of that nature with her and it was awkward to suddenly have the walls broken down to nothing.

"In our history, yes, it was more like cats on Earth. Barbs along the entire length to stimulate the insides of the females. They were built to handle it, of course. You wouldn't be. But as I said, for millennia, my species hasn't procreated in that way and the barbs weren't needed, so went away and we're left with just the bumps in their place," he explained, putting his hands behind his head and looking up at the ceiling as he lectured on the topic.

That was the second time he'd mentioned procreation, and Rose had a thought that scared her a bit. "Um, Doctor? About...procreation?"

He looked over at her, eyes soft. "No need to worry about that. Can't father children like that. Hence the bumps." That was such a relief.

"Mmm, these bumps right here?" she questioned as she touched him intimately. The Doctor groaned at the contact and the length under her hand started hardening almost immediately.

"Already?" she asked in pleasant surprise, rubbing more insistently.

"Superior circulatory system," he gasped as he thrust into her hand slightly.

Knowing that he was ready again, Rose wanted him inside of her and climbed over him to settle onto his length immediately. His hands moved to steady her hips and gently urged her to rock back and forth. As she did so, his hands moved up her body slowly until they came to her neck.

"Rose, may I?" he asked, holding his hands over her temples as he gazed into her eyes for permission to connect with her mind. She nodded and he made contact.

It wasn't like the previous times he'd needed to connect with her mentally. Those times, he'd just maintained an awareness of her while letting her show him images. This time, he'd allowed his own barriers down so she could feel him as well as him feeling her. Rose gasped at the new experience and he felt a strong wave of love and desire crash from her mind to his. Similarly, he sent her feelings of his own admiration for her. Human emotions were slightly different from his own, but he made sure to let her know that he felt she was beautiful, intelligent, and so compassionate.

He felt some mild confusion from her, so he let her feel how that fuelled his own desire, which seemed to clear up her concerns. She expected love and it was probably the closest word to what he felt in her language, but his own feelings, he thought would be so much more enduring and stronger than the flash fire of human love. He wasn't sure how to express that to her, however.

She seemed to get the idea, as he continued to project his feelings toward her, and he felt her joy. He leaned up to kiss her and wrap his arms around her as she ground down on him.

Later, she was dozing lightly as he watched her with a soft smile on his face. He pushed an errant lock of her hair out of her face and kissed her forehead before he settled down.

He could take a bit of a kip.


	17. No regrets

The Doctor woke up suddenly. When he saw his ceiling, he wondered why he'd gone to bed. He didn't need any sleep, as he'd slept a few hours the night before in Rose's bed. There was a warm weight on his side, and he remembered what had happened.

He looked down at the woman, curled up against his side with an arm and leg draped over him. Her mouth was curled up in a soft smile and she looked peaceful.

He remembered the activities that had worn him out with a satisfied grin. Teasing each other as they undressed. A quick shower punctuated with kisses and touching. How it felt when she touched him. Mouths and tongues and hands and skin. The heat when he finally sank into her.

Intercourse had always been a novelty. Something to do to see how it felt in a body, or something to do because it seemed like a fun thing to do at the time. It had never felt like a need before.

She'd offered something incredibly precious to him: a forever that could match his own, and he'd-

His mind came up with an impressive string of expletives in twenty-eight languages. How the hell could he have been so stupid? How the hell could he have been so selfish?

The Doctor extricated himself from Rose's grasp and left the bed as soon as he could without waking her. He went straight to his wardrobe and dressed himself, cursing at himself the entire time.

He stopped next to the bed and watched her sleeping. She looked happy and he wondered how long it would be before she wasn't.

"I'm sorry," he whispered before leaving the room

He went directly to the console room, where he punched the strut a few times, letting loose his string of curses in the real world before he dropped to the jumpseat with his head in his hands.

This was bad. This was extremely very not good. It had barely been twenty-four hours after learning that she'd had a longer life. He'd just told her that she was mildly telepathic, for crying out loud!

Of course she offered what she had. Of course she let him bed her. She hadn't had time to think about the ramifications yet.

Hell _he_ hadn't had time to think about the ramifications yet.

As he sat there, he became aware of the pain in his hand. He looked at it. The knuckles were an angry red, with a bit of coral embedded in them. Two of them had bled a little, but he deserved a lot more than that for his sins. They'd heal in short order. He could already see that the edges looked better. That coral needed to come out, so he picked it out piece by piece, hissing while he did so.

"Sorry, Old Girl," he said out loud to his timeship. In reply, he received a mournful hum. He really should not have hit the coral. He felt a wave of understanding and sent thanks to his ship.

The Doctor thought about the situation. What was done was done, and he couldn't take it back. Hell he wouldn't take it back, even if he could. He had no regrets for the act itself. It probably would have happened anyway. They had been heading toward it for some time, and it had been amazing.

The problem was in timing. He snorted at that. The Time Lord having a problem with Time.

He came to a decision. It was one he could live with, and hopefully, Rose could too.

XxXxXxXx

Rose woke slowly and reluctantly. She was comfortable and didn't want to move. Before she opened her eyes, she rolled onto her back and stretched languidly. Her muscles ached, as if she'd been using them in a way she hadn't in years-

Oh.

Her eyes opened wide, and she looked around the Doctor's bedroom. It was dark, crimson red on the walls, with gold accents, and dark wood furniture that was from a species of tree that she'd never seen before.

The man himself wasn't there, which didn't surprise her. He didn't sleep much and got restless quickly. She was pretty sure he'd at least dozed the previous night in her room.

She left the bed, noting the pleasant ache where they'd been intimate. She'd been right. He felt fantastic. She grinned and started looking for something to wear before she remembered that her clothes had been taken off in the en-suite.

She padded over to the door and peeked in. All of the clothes that had been scattered everywhere had disappeared. On the counter, though, there laid a nicely folded pile of cloth.

She cleaned herself, put her clothes on quickly, and ran her brush through her tangled hair. Rose was halfway through putting on her eyeliner when she realized that she shouldn't have had any makeup in this room. She put her hand on the wall and rubbed it, thanking the ship, who she was certain was the one who'd sent her toiletries.

Rose was almost to the galley before the thought struck her. Maybe she was alone that morning for a different reason. Maybe he was having second thoughts, or things would get weird. Maybe-

No. There was no point in worrying. She'd see what happened.

She walked into the galley and, to her surprise, saw the Doctor. She thought he would be in the console room.

"Hello Rose," he greeted her enthusiastically. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I did," she replied, heading straight for caffeine. When she reached the counter next to him, the Doctor put his arm around her waist a pressed a kiss to her temple, causing Rose to blush.

There was no reason to worry after all.

That day, they took off to Kloiregard, where they stopped a rogue time traveler from stealing a cultural statue from the temple. The statue of the god Kloir was said to actually contain the bones of his mortal form. If the statue had been successfully stolen, it would have plunged the entire planet into a millennia long war.

During the trip, Rose's ankle was twisted when she was trying to get out of the way of the time traveler's laser blast. She'd jumped over a low bench and landed wrong. When the Doctor fixed it up properly later on, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. He kissed back and held her, but didn't let it go any further.

The next week or so was much the same. They fell into a comfortable routine that was pretty much what they had done before making love with each other. Only they'd kiss each other and if the Doctor could sleep, he'd crawl into bed with Rose and cuddle with her.

Rose became convinced that they hadn't harmed their relationship. On the contrary, it seemed stronger than ever, but the Doctor wouldn't let intimacy go beyond kissing and cuddling, and Rose was afraid to push it further.

She was certain it was a Time Lord thing, whatever was holding him back. She was glad he wasn't shutting her out or acting like it never happened. She was also glad to know for sure that she'd not have to be completely celibate for the rest of her life, however long that was.

After a week and four days, approximately, she found him in the library, looking through thick books in Gallifreyan and mumbling to himself in the same language. As soon as he noticed her, he closed the book he was holding and started babbling about Atlantis.

They never made it to Atlantis, but they did wind up locked away again. Apparently, the TARDIS had landed on the wrong flowers.

Three days after that, she found him at it again, only that time, he was in the galley and mumbling to himself about the lack of information for a serum and lamenting the loss of the information.

"...It's a catch twenty-two, I suppose. If it were still easy to get, I wouldn't be allowed to use it anyway!" He tugged at his hair, slammed the book closed, and leaned over it.

"Wouldn't be allowed to use what?" Rose asked, stepping into the room proper. She was going to find out what he'd been researching.

The Doctor looked like a deer caught in the headlights for about half a second before he shrugged. "This...stuff," he said lamely, putting his hands in his pockets. "For an experiment I want to run, but it's all gone now," he said in the same way he did whenever talking about something to do with his planet. "As is the information on it, and I wouldn't have been able to use it anyway, so there's not much point in continuing down that path, now is there?" he babbled.

"I suppose not," she replied sadly, knowing what the admission cost him.

Later, they'd gone to see the Perseid meteor shower, which was spectacular that year. Earth hit a particularly dense cluster of meteoroids and the sky was lit up. It reminded Rose of the Christmas when the Doctor regenerated, but it was natural meteors from a comet this time.

They laid out on his great big coat, on a hillside somewhere in the Appalachians, but she couldn't remember where they were exactly.

"It's spectacular," Rose told him happily.

"Not bad," he agreed. He put his arm around her and she curled into him.

"You don't get a view like this from London. That's for sure," she told him.

"Not normally, no," he replied.

She looked over at him, and saw that he was watching her instead of the spectacle in the sky. After that, she had a hard time keeping her attention on the show, even if there was a meteor coming out every fifteen seconds on average.

"Wonder how many people are wishing upon shooting stars?" she asked.

"That's always been a weird tradition. Wishing on a burning rock that will be gone in approximately two seconds on average," the Doctor replied. "But then that's humans for you; wishing and hoping."

"It's all fun and games," she replied, laughing. "No one really believes it's gonna work."

"If it really worked, what would you wish for?" he questioned seriously.

Rose rolled over on her side to look at him better. When he did the same, she answered. "I already told you that. Back on that ship." She leaned forward and pressed her lips to his softly. He gave her a few chaste kisses, then pulled back.

"I need to hear it, Rose. Now that you've had a little bit of time to get used to your new reality," he told her softly. "So, Rose Tyler, what is your wish?"

"I wish to be able to stay with you, for your forever," she answered.

He smiled and caressed her cheek softly before closing the distance between them and kissing her deeply. His hand slid behind her head and pulled her tightly against him until he felt that she would likely need to breathe. He then started kissing down her neck, unzipping her jacket so he could move lower.

They both removed clothes from one another quickly and passionately made love on that hill in Appalachia, with the sky full of meteors and a few fireflies lighting the mid August night. He connected with her telepathically again, only the second time that he had allowed their minds to entwine so deeply together and for an hour or so afterward, Rose found that she could still feel an awareness of him buzzing in the back of her mind.

She asked him about it, thinking that they should only feel that while he was touching her.

"Well, yes, I am a touch telepath, but my people create connections. Every touch increases that familiarity. So, I develop a bit of a connection with all of my close friends. You and I have spent more time in physical contact from the day we met than I've done with anyone over the centuries. It always hurts when those bonds of friendship are lost, but I think if I were to lose you, it would be agony," he admitted.

"Is it staying because I'm sort of telepathic now?" she wondered.

"Partially. But it's also because we've connected so intimately, both physically and mentally. That connection will grow stronger, the longer we're together," the Doctor explained.

"That would be lovely. Could it ever be that we'd feel that all the time?" she asked, poking at that part of her mind that felt like him. She felt a wave of affection from him.

"Could be. It would take time and a bit of practice for you, but as I explained, those bonds can be lost. When my friends would leave, the connection would fade. So, we might have to make sure that we renewed our intimate connections frequently to maintain the bonds between us," he told her with a teasing grin and waggling his eyebrows.

"Is that your way of saying you want more sex?" she asked, grinning hugely.

"Maybe," he replied.

"All you had to do was ask," she told him.

"I'll take that under advisement," he said, laughing.

"So, what's our next stop, then, Doctor?" she questioned, snuggling into his side.

"I thought maybe you'd like to take a turn piloting the TARDIS," he told her.

"Really? You'd let me fly the TARDIS?" she gasped in surprise.

"Why not? You already help me. I've been teaching you bits for a while. You can try to go solo."

"Will she help me at all?" she wondered, she could feel the ship in her head sometimes and wondered if she'd get some assistance that way too.

"Well, probably. When I first, um, acquired her, I wasn't all that proficient a pilot myself. She may have helped me a bit when I was starting out," he admitted sheepishly.

Rose decided to let the opportunity to tease him go for once. He seemed embarrassed enough already.

The next day, Rose stood at the console with the Doctor behind her. He had instructed her to set the randomizer so that she wouldn't need to know any particular coordinates and told her to let the TARDIS guide her a bit in which controls came next.

"Just feel. Let her guide you. You know the start. Ready?" he asked.

"Yeah," Rose replied, still nervous.

"Close down the gravitic anomalizer," he said. She did so. "Fire up the helmic regulator. And finally, the hand brake."

Rose took hold of the lever and gave him a tongue-touched smile before slamming it down. The ship shook, but not as violently as she expected. She let a feeling in her mind and memories of the Doctor doing this exact thing guide her to the next control. For the first couple of controls, she looked to him to make sure before she changed anything, but after a few nods, she gained confidence. Dashing about the console, she finally hit the last control, and the rotor slowed down. A thump let them know that the TARDIS had landed wherever she'd decided they were going to go.

The Doctor moved to the monitor to check on everything as Rose ran to the doors to see where she had taken them. He smiled at her enthusiasm and at how marvellously she had flown their ship. The thought surprised him, the TARDIS had been his ship for centuries, when had his mind started thinking of her as theirs?

Rose was already out the doors and admiring the waves that surrounded the little island where they had landed. He walked up next to her and took her hand.

"Have you met my friend?" he asked her teasingly and gestured up towards the looming Statue of Liberty.


	18. Daleks In Manhattan Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Time to move on to Daleks in Manhattan. We both want to thank everyone who's been reviewing this, following, favoring, etc. We love ya!

 

Rose stood, watching the waves as the Doctor came out of the TARDIS behind her.

"Have you met my friend?" he asked, amusement in his voice. Rose turned around quickly and looked where he was pointing.

"That's the Statue of Liberty!" she squealed. "We're in New York City! I did it! I've always wanted to go to New York City! You know, the original." She laughed.

"Well, there's the genuine article. Gateway to the New World. Give me you tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free," the Doctor quoted. "So good, they named it twice. Mind you, it was New Amsterdam originally. Harder to say twice. No wonder it didn't catch on. New Amsterdam, New Amsterdam."

"Definitely the past," Rose commented. "That's the Empire state building, but it's not quite finished yet." She started looking around for clues as to when they landed. She saw a paper laying on a bench and went over to it.

"Work in progress. Still got a couple floors to go, and if I know my history, that makes the date somewhere around-"

"November the first, nineteen-thirty," Rose spoke up, reading the date off of the header.

The Doctor spun around and looked at her in surprise. "Oh, Rose Tyler, you are good."

Rose waved the newspaper she had picked up and laughed. "I am good, but not like that. I think I found our next adventure." She handed him the paper so he could see the headline she'd noticed while reading the date off.

"Hooverville Mystery Deepens," the Doctor read aloud.

"So, what's Hooverville?" Rose asked.

They took the ferry over to Manhattan and made their way to Central Park. As they were walking, the Doctor explained what was going on in the era. "Herbert Hoover, thirty first President of the USA, came to power a year ago. Up 'til then New York was a boom town, the Roaring Twenties, and then," he lectured.

"The Great Depression, yeah? What started that, it was the bankers, right?" Rose asked.

"Yeah. Well, more accurately, it was the Wall Street crash. Whole economy wiped out overnight. Thousands of people unemployed. All of a sudden, the huddled masses doubled in number with nowhere to go. So, they ended up here in Central Park."

"What, they actually live in the park? In the middle of the city? Suppose that happens to people all over the world, but you don't think about that many all at once really. Usually it's just those one or two that have nowhere else to go," she said, remembering the neighbourhood where she grew up.

They finally saw the place called Hooverville. It was a surprisingly orderly little town made up of tents and pieces of wood, metal, or whatever they could get hold of that would help protect them from the elements.

"Ordinary people lost their jobs. Couldn't pay the rent and they lost everything. There are places like this all over America. No one's helping them. It's like you said, Rose. You only come to a place like this when there's nowhere else to go."

As they approached the centre of the village, a fight started to break out ahead of them. A dark skinned man started yelling, "You thieving lowlife!" He started attacking another man nearby and continued arguing. "For a single loaf!"

"I didn't touch it!" the other man called innocently.

"Somebody stole it!"

The argument nearly came to blows just as another man came out of a nearby tent. He took command of the situation immediately and pulled the two men apart. He didn't look large or intimidating, but held himself with an air of authority that demanded you listen. "Cut that out! Cut that out right now!" he ordered.

"He stole my bread!" the dark skinned man exclaimed, pointing at the man he'd been fighting with. He tried to pull himself free to go after him again.

"That's enough!" the older man who was trying to break up the fight yelled, holding him back. "Did you take it?" he asked the other man.

"I don't know what happened. He just went crazy!" the man being accused claimed. Rose didn't believe him one bit.

"That's enough! Now, think real careful before you lie to me," the older man told him.

"I'm starving, Solomon," the thief whined.

The older man, Solomon, held out his hand to the thief, who reached inside his coat and produced a whole loaf of bread.

"We all starving. We all got families somewhere," he told the unnamed thief. He then tore the bread in half and handed each man half of the loaf.

"No stealing and no fighting," he admonished them both. "You know the rules. Thirteen years ago I fought in the Great War. A lot of us did. And the only reason we got through was because we stuck together. No matter how bad things get, we still act like human beings. It's all we got." Solomon raised his voice for the last bit, so that more people in the ramshackle city could hear him.

With the fight over, the two men who'd been fighting walked away from each other.

"Come on," the Doctor whispered to Rose. He took her hand and they followed Solomon, calling after him, "I suppose that makes you the boss around here."

"And, er, who might you be?" Solomon questioned, evaluating their appearance carefully.

"I'm Rose," she greeted, offering her hand. "And he's the Doctor," she added with a nod to the man beside her.

"A doctor, huh? Well, we got stockbrokers, we got a lawyer, but you're the first doctor. Neighbourhood gets classier by the day," Solomon commented.

"How many people live here? I mean, just guessing, yeah?" Rose wondered.

"At any one time, hundreds. No place else to go. But I will say this about Hooverville. We are a truly equal society. Black, white, all the same. All starving. So you're welcome, both of you. But tell me. Doctor, you're a man of learning, right? Explain this to me. That there's going to be the tallest building in the world. How come they can do that, when we got people starving in the heart of Manhattan?" the man asked as he stared at the Empire State building.

They all looked toward the tall building for a few moments as they considered the inequality that had toppled this country and brought the majority of the population to its knees. Solomon walked away after a moment and the Doctor felt it was time to address the mystery that had made them come here to begin with. He brought the newspaper with him as he followed Solomon.

"So, men are going missing. Is this true?" the Doctor asked.

"It's true alright," Solomon replied and gestured for them to join him inside his large tent.

"But what do they mean by missing? I mean, with all these people, it can't be easy to keep track of everyone," Rose argued as she followed them inside.

"Come on in. This is different," he told them plainly.

"How exactly?" the Doctor questioned.

"Someone takes them, at night. We hear something, someone calls out for help. By the time we get there, they're gone like they vanished into thin air," Solomon said, pouring himself some coffee.

"And you're sure someone's taking them?" the Doctor demanded, needing to be positive that there really was something dangerous going on.

"Doctor, when you got next to nothing, you hold on to the little you got. Your knife, blanket, you take it with you. You don't leave bread uneaten, fire still burning," Solomon insisted.

"Know that feeling. And I'm sure the authorities don't care either. Never did back home anyway," Rose grumbled.

"Yeah, we tried talking to the police. Another deadbeat goes missing, big deal," Solomon agreed.

"So the question is, who's taking them and what for?" the Doctor concluded, deciding that this did seem to be a mystery worthy of their attention.

"Solomon!" a young man called from outside. "Solomon, Mister Diagoras is here," he added, poking his head just inside and they followed him to where a crowd was gathering.

A tall man in a black, pinstriped suit was standing at the highest point of the camp. People came around and stood, ready to listen to what the man was offering them for work that day.

"I need men. Volunteers," Diagoras called out in a thick New York accent to the small crowd standing at his feet. "I've got a little work for you and you sure look like you can use the money." Rose rolled her eyes at this. Like these people really needed the reminder.

"Yeah. What is the money?" the young man who'd alerted Solomon questioned.

"A dollar a day," Diagoras answered.

"What's the work?" Solomon wondered.

"A little trip down the sewers. Got a tunnel collapsed needs clearing and fixing. Any takers?" Diagoras asked, as if he knew someone would work for what sounded like very little.

"A dollar a day? That's slave wage. And men don't always come back up, do they?" Solomon called back to the man, simultaneously calling him out and reminding the people standing around him that some things just weren't worth it.

Diagoras just shrugged and said, "Accidents happen."

"What do you mean? What sort of accidents?" the Doctor spoke up suddenly.

"You don't need the work? That's fine. Anybody else?" the man in the black suit dismissed him.

Rose was suspicious of this man, and her suspicions were confirmed a moment later when the Doctor raised his hand.

"Enough with the questions," Diagoras snapped.

"Oh, no, no, no. I'm volunteering. I'll go," the Doctor said.

Rose rolled her eyes and raised her hand as well. She was used to this by now, and truthfully, she loved the excitement of it all. The only way to figure out this mystery and help these people was to get on the inside. So, she entwined her fingers with the Doctor's and squeezed. Their eyes met with the usual glimmer of excitement.

"Anybody else?" Diagoras asked, both the young man who had called them over and Solomon raising their hands. They learned along the way that his name was Frank. He had a strong Southern American accent and a friendly smile.

Mr. Diagoras led them to an entrance into the sewer system and explained their task. "Turn left. Go about a half a mile. Follow tunnel two seven three. Fall's right ahead of you, you can't miss it."

"And when do we get our dollar?" Frank questioned doubtfully.

"When you come back up," he replied.

"And if we don't come back up?" the Doctor added, figuring that was probably the idea.

"Then I got no one to pay," came the response as he left them to their task.

"Don't worry, we'll be back," Solomon insisted.

"One way or another," Rose added, not sure if it would be quite the way any of them expected, but confident that they'd make it out of the sewers eventually.

The Doctor watched Diagoras for a moment before following along with the others toward their goal.

"We just got to stick together. It's easy to get lost. It's like a huge rabbit warren. You could hide an army down here," Frank said assuredly.

"Oh, don't say that. We don't need any armies right now, yeah? So, what's your story, Frank?" Rose asked, trying to lighten the mood a little. She watched as the Doctor tried to make conversation with Solomon ahead of them and she got a little information from Frank. It was their usual tactic for finding out every detail they could.

"Well, as you can tell, I'm not from around here. I'm Tennessee born and bred," he replied.

"So, what brings you to New York?" she wondered, thinking that it had to be better back home for him. He was quite young to be out living on his own.

"Oh, my daddy died. Mama couldn't afford to feed us all. So, I'm the oldest, up to me to feed myself. So I put on my coat, hitched up here on the railroads. There's a whole lot of runaways in the camp, younger than me, from all over. Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas. Solomon keeps a lookout for us. So, what about you? You're a long way from home," he explained.

"Oh, well, my dad died when I was just a baby. No brothers or sisters. Mum's gone now, too," she admitted sadly. "But I've got the Doctor, so I'll be just fine. We travel all over the place," she told him, adding a warm smile toward the Doctor as she thought about the brilliant shift in their relationship. Yes, she really would be just fine.

"He seems real nice. So, are you and him together, then?" Frank wondered.

"Yeah. I wasn't sure for a long time, but yeah, we're together," she responded confidently.

"So this Diagoras bloke, who is he then?" the Doctor asked Solomon.

"A couple of months ago, he was just another foreman. Now, it seems like he's running most of Manhattan," Solomon answered.

"How'd he manage that then?" the Doctor wondered.

"These are strange times. A man can go from being King of the Hill to the lowest of the low overnight. It's just for some folks it works the other way round," Solomon replied wearily.

"Whoa!" the Doctor stopped them all with a hand out. On the ground in front of him, there was a blob. He crouched down to get a better look at it. There were tentacle like things coming off of it.

"That stinks, more than the rest of this place," Rose said. "And of course you've gotta pick up the disgusting blobby thing." Rose wrinkled her nose and reminded herself that until he washed his hands, there was no way she was holding them.

"Shine your torch through it," the Doctor said. "Composite organic matter," he said in a low voice, almost to himself. He turned toward Rose. "What do you think?" he asked her. How was she supposed to know?

"I dunno anything about that. It looks like a jellyfish that someone's been doing genetic research on. Except it's far too early for genetic research, isn't it?" she asked.

The Doctor gave her an appreciative look. "Yes, it is, far too early.. And I'll tell you something else. We must be at least half a mile in. I don't see any sign of a collapse, do you? So why did Mister Diagoras send us down here?" He looked around them and stood up.

"Where are we?" Rose wondered. She didn't have a clue about how far they'd gone. Her own inspection of the area was made easier by a beam of light coming down from a manhole cover nearby.

"Well, we're right underneath Manhattan," the Doctor answered.

"We're way beyond half a mile. There's no collapse, nothing," Solomon announced, frustration coming off of him in waves.

"So, he was lying, then? Thought he might be," Rose sighed.

"Looks like it," the Doctor agreed.

"So why'd he want people to come down here?" Frank wondered.

"Solomon, I think it's time you took Frank back. We'll be much quicker on our own," the Doctor told him.

"You're gonna keep her down here? It might be dangerous," he argued.

"Oh, Rose is much tougher than she looks. And, I've learned the hard way that sending her off just because I think it's dangerous just has her coming back on her own and getting into even more trouble," he replied, earning himself an elbow in the ribs.

He glanced down at Rose with a smirk, but both of their expressions turned to concern when they heard a squealing sound from the darkness. It was hard to tell where it had come from or how many of them there were, but there was definitely something down here with them.

"What the hell was that?" Solomon gasped.

"Hello?" Frank called loudly.

"Frank," Solomon chastised, afraid that something dangerous was after them.

"What if it's one of the folk gone missing? You'd be scared and half mad down here on your own," Frank argued, clearly more compassionate than afraid.

"That's the spirit," Rose told him.

"Do you think they're still alive?" the Doctor questioned.

"Heck, we ain't seen no bodies down here. Maybe they just got lost," Frank suggested.

"I know I never heard nobody make a sound like that," Solomon insisted.

"Where's it coming from? Sounds like there's more than one of them," Frank said, looking down the multiple passageways that led from their current location.

"This way," the Doctor decided.

"No, that way," Solomon argued and swung his torch over to a figure hunched over by the wall.

"Doctor?" Rose tugged on his sleeve.

"Who are you?" Solomon asked.

"Are you lost? Can you understand me? I've been thinking about folk lost down here," Frank said, stepping a little closer to the person.

"It's all right, Frank. Just stay back," the Doctor told him. "Let me have a look. He's got a point, though, my mate Frank. I'd hate to be stuck down here on my own. We know the way out. Daylight. If you come with us," he said to the man they saw. A beam of light fell on his face, and he saw that the creature had the face of a pig. "Oh, but what are you?" he asked, in a bit of awe. Here was a new creature he'd never seen before. Unfortunately, he was pretty sure that this was not a naturally occurring species.

"Is that, er, some kind of carnival mask?" Solomon asked. A little bit of fear had crept into his voice.

"No, it's real," the Doctor replied. "I'm sorry," he apologized to the pig man. "Now listen to me. I promise I can help. Who did this to you?" he questioned.

Rose saw a couple of the pigmen coming down the tunnel. "Doctor? Maybe you should get back here," she told him. Then more of the pigmen joined the group, and Rose had a very bad feeling about this. "Doctor!" she shouted, trying to get his attention on more than just the one in front of him.

The Doctor noticed the new arrivals. "Actually, good point," he said as he stood back upright and backed up to the rest of the group.

"Oh, no. They're following us," Rose pointed out.

"Yeah, I noticed that, thanks. Well then, Rose, Frank, Solomon," he began.

"What?" Frank wondered.

"Oh, the usual. Time to run!" Rose told them and bolted back toward the last place she remembered seeing a ladder out of the sewers.

The creatures were gaining on them and Rose got a bit confused for a moment. "Doctor? Which way out of here?" she shouted, pausing for a moment at an intersection.

"This way!" he shouted, grasping her hand tightly and pulling her along with him. "It's a ladder! Come on!"

He climbed up quickly and used his sonic to release the cover that was preventing their escape. As soon as it was open, the Doctor pulled Rose up to safety. Frank grabbed a metal bar that was on the ground nearby and began to fight back against the creatures that pursued them as Solomon made his way up the ladder.

"Frank! Frank!" Solomon yelled down the hole, urging the young man to get out of there as quickly as possible. "C'mon, Frank! C'mon!"

Frank made it to the top of the ladder, where Solomon and the Doctor tried to help pull him up, but the pig creatures below grabbed his legs. The brief tug of war was over when Solomon's fear got the better of him and he let go of Frank in favour of sealing the gruesome animals below. He pushed the lid back over the hole, trapping Frank.

"No!" the Doctor shouted, not wanting to leave anyone behind.

"How could you do that?" Rose shouted angrily at Solomon. She moved to open the lid again and save their friend, but Solomon stepped in front of the furious woman.

"We can't go after him," he insisted, earning himself a Tyler glare that might quickly be followed by a slap if he wasn't careful.

"We've got to go back down. We can't just leave him," the Doctor argued and stood next to Rose as a unified front.

"No, I'm not losing anybody else. Those creatures were from Hell. From Hell itself! If we go after them, they'll take us all! There's nothing we can do. I'm sorry," Solomon decided, accustomed to being the one in charge of every situation.

"All right, then. Put 'em up. Hands in the air and no funny business. Now tell me, you schmucks, what have you done with Laszlo?" A woman yelled from behind them before the Doctor and Rose could argue further. The group turned around, and, upon seeing the revolver she held, put their hands in the air.

"Who's Laszlo?" Rose wondered.

The blonde woman directed them to her dressing room, where she sat down and started telling them about Laszlo.

"Laszlo's my boyfriend. Or was my boyfriend until he disappeared two weeks ago. No letter, no goodbye, no nothing. And I'm not stupid. I know some guys are just pigs but not my Laszlo. I mean, what kind of guy asks you to meet his mother before he vamooses?" she babbled, waving the revolver around. Every time it pointed toward them, Solomon, Rose, and the Doctor would tense up.

"Yeah. It might, might just help if you put that down," the Doctor said nervously.

"Huh?" the unknown woman said, as if she were confused. Then she noticed that she was still holding the revolver. "Oh, sure!" She tossed the revolver over on top of a box, causing the other people in the room to flinch. "Oh, come on. It's not real. It's just a prop. It was either that or a spear." she chastised them.

"What do you think might have happened to Lazlo?" Rose questioned. Here was someone else missing, and there was an entrance to the sewers where some people would go missing.

"I wish I knew. One minute he's there, the next, zip. Vanished," the blonde woman lamented with a sigh.

"Listen, ah—what's your name?" the Doctor wondered.

"Tallulah," she answered.

"Tallulah," the Doctor repeated her name.

"Three Ls and an H," Tallulah said before the Doctor could continue, as if she were used to having to tell people how her name was spelled.

"Right. We can try to find Laszlo, but he's not the only one. There are people disappearing every night," the Doctor informed her.

"And there are creatures. Such creatures," Solomon interjected, fear evident in his voice.

"What do you mean, creatures?" Tallulah asked, taken aback.

"Look, listen, just trust me. Everyone is in danger," the Doctor said, trying to get them back on track. "I need to find out exactly what this is." He pulled the jellyfish like thing out of the pocket of his overcoat. "Because then I'll know exactly what we're fighting."

"Yuck," Tallulah cringed, echoing Rose's thought.

"Did you really have to put it in your pocket?" Rose questioned.

The Doctor left Rose to chat with Tallulah while he worked on building something to scan the smelly blob they'd discovered in the sewer. Whatever it was, it wasn't from Earth, meaning yet another invasion of some kind that they had to put a stop to.

"How about this? I found it backstage," Solomon questioned as he handed over a small radio.

"Perfect. It's the capacitors I need. I'm just rigging up a crude little DNA scan for this beastie. If I can get a chromosomal reading, I can find out where it's from," the Doctor told him, despite knowing that the man wouldn't have a clue what he was talking about.

"How about you, Doctor? Where are you from? I've been all over. I never heard anybody talk like you. Just exactly who are you?" Solomon demanded.

"Oh, I'm just sort of passing by," the Doctor replied dismissively.

"I'm not a fool, Doctor," he growled.

"No. Sorry," the Doctor agreed, but still didn't elaborate on his identity.

Solomon walked over to the entrance to the sewer where he had panicked recently. "I was so scared, Doctor. I let them take Frank because I was just so scared. I got to get back to Hooverville. With these creatures on the loose, we got to protect ourselves. Ain't no one else going to help us," he explained. It seemed he had regained the brave spirit that had guided him before and he needed to make amends by protecting the rest of the people in Hooverville.

"Good luck," the Doctor told him, concentrating on solving the problem from the source before they would need to make a stand back in the park.

"I hope you find what you're looking for. For all our sakes," Solomon said as he left the theatre.

Tallulah was getting ready for her next show while Rose talked to her.

"Laszlo. He'd wait for me after the show. Walk me home like I was a lady. He'd leave a flower for me on my dressing table. Every day, just a single rose bud," Tallulah explained while dabbing powder on her face.

"Have you reported him missing yet?" Rose wondered.

"Sure. He's just a stagehand. Who cares? The management certainly don't," she replied.

"The police don't care about someone who works going missing?" Rose wondered. "Can't you make a fuss or something? Squeaky wheel gets the grease and all."

"Okay, then so I get fired for kicking up a fuss," Tallulah said, glumly.

"What's the police got to do with your bosses?" Rose wondered.

"They come in here searching. Maybe we have to shut down for a night. They know it's me. I get fired for costing them moolah," Tallulah explained and Rose's heart broke for the poor woman. In trouble no matter which way she turned.

"But you're the star, aren't ya?" Rose asked. "Don't they have to listen to you?"

"Oh, honey, I got one song in a back street revue and that's only because Heidi Chicane broke her ankle. Which had nothing to do with me whatever anybody says. I can't afford to make a fuss. If I don't make this month's rent, then before you know it, I'm in Hooverville."

"I'm sorry," Rose apologized.

"It's the Depression, Sweetie. Your heart might break, but the show goes on. Because if it stops, you starve. Every night I have to go out there, sing, dance, keep going, hoping he's going to come back." She sighed. Then turned to Rose, leaning forward a bit and looking a tiny bit happier. "You're lucky, though. You got yourself a forward thinking guy with that hot potato in the sharp suit."

"Yeah," Rose sighed dreamily. "Only recently though. For a long time, I didn't think we'd be anything more than best friends, but now…" Rose trailed off as she remembered lying in his bed with his arms wrapped around her, the rumble of his contented purring lulling her back to sleep.

"Oh, I've seen the way you two are looking at each other. It's beautiful," Tallulah sighed wistfully, missing her own love story.

"Sorry. It must be really hard. Not knowing where Laszlo is. Wondering if he's alright or not," Rose told her, taking her hand supportively.

"It's not your fault, Sweetie. Besides, I've got to live in hope. It's the only thing that's kept me going because, well, look. On my dressing table every day still," she responded and held up a small, white rose bud.

"You think it's Laszlo? Did anyone see how it got here?" Rose wondered.

"I don't know. If he's still around, why is he being all secret like he doesn't want me to see him?" Tallulah questioned, hurt that he would be hiding from her.

Rose had seen her share of trouble with the Doctor and knew that there were plenty of reasons why he might be hiding from her. She watched as the young woman finished arranging her costume.

"Girls, it's showtime!" Tallulah called to the rest of the women backstage.

A couple of the women, dressed as sparkling devils, were arguing as they went toward the stage.

"Come on, Honey. Take a look. Ever been on stage before?" Tallulah asked.

"Once, Shakespeare. He was a bit fit," Rose reminisced. "Breath stunk, though."

"Eww! How dull is that? Come and see a real show," Tallulah bragged and pulled Rose toward the stage.


	19. Daleks in Manhattan Part 2

The Doctor pulled all of his equipment up into the lighting gallery so that his tinkering wouldn't interfere with the show and no one would likely disturb him. He used one of the bright spotlights, pieces of an old radio, and a few other bits and bobs as well as his sonic to rig up his scanner.

"That's it. We need to heat you up," he mumbled to himself as he placed the blob onto the device. He donned his sexy specs and peered at it closely for a moment. "This is artificial."

"Ladies and gentlemen. The Laurenzi," a voice announced from the stage below.

"Genetically engineered. Whoever this is, oh, you're clever," he gasped as he noticed more and more details about the thing they had found.

"Dancing devils, with Heaven and Hell!" the announcer called and the audience applauded as the curtain rose. The dancers appeared, in their devil and angel costumes, Tallulah taking her position at the microphone.

###############

"You lured me in with your cold grey eyes, your simple smile, your bewitching lies. One and one and one is three. My bad, bad angel, the Devil and me. You put the devil in me. You put the devil in me. You put the devil in me. My bad, bad angel, you put the Devil in me." Tallulah sang, smiling and dancing, as if nothing had happened, just like she told Rose.

Off to the side of the stage, Rose watched Tallulah and the other girls dance. On the other side of the stage, she saw another person watching the show just as she was. A second glimpse of him showed it to be one of the weird, pig-like beings they had seen in the sewers.

She had to get to him, or her. She couldn't tell with them, they were all the same. She had to get to that end of the stage. He was obviously not going to be running out into the crowd or onto the stage, so if she went around behind the curtain, she knew she'd have it trapped.

Rose took off running behind the curtain. There was a prop in the way, and she wound up batting the curtain to the side on her way without a thought to what it must look like on the other side. Once she got past the obstruction, Rose darted out to the other side of the curtain, where she saw the pig man. This one definitely looked male and different than the others. His features were more human like.

"Hey," she called to him, having no clue what she would do. She figured she'd think of something. The pig man turned toward her with wide eyes, then darted away.

"Stop!" Rose yelled at him. "Wait! I'm not gonna hurt ya!" He ran to the sewer cover, pulled it off, and got in. Suddenly, Rose felt hands grab her and shove her towards the open manhole cover.

She screamed as loud as she could, hoping the Doctor would hear.

############

Trying to find the vibration frequency of the thing as his sonic sent a signal through it, the Doctor held his stethoscope on the slimy blob. "Fundamental DNA type four six seven dash nine eight nine. Nine eight nine," he mumbled thoughtfully and closed his eyes as he tried to remember what that meant. "Hold on, that means planet of origin... Skaro."

The Doctor's hearts started beating fitfully. Daleks! Where was Rose? He couldn't let anything happen to her. The Daleks had already cost her her entire family. He pulled his sonic from the device and ran from the lighting gallery to find Rose immediately.

"Where is she? Where's Rose?" the Doctor shouted breathlessly at the performers.

"I don't know. She ran off the side stage area. I couldn't see where she went," Tallulah replied.

They suddenly heard a scream from backstage and both of them ran.

"Rose! Rose, I'm coming!" the Doctor called after her desperately.

He could see that the cover that led into the sewer was partially open and pulled his coat back on from where he had tossed it earlier.

"Where are you going?" Tallulah questioned.

"They've taken her," he growled and started climbing down the ladder they had used earlier to escape the sewers.

"Who's taken her? What're you doing?" she called after his descending figure. "I said, what the hell are you doing?" she added when he didn't respond and grabbed a coat for herself before following him.

"No, no, no, no, no way. You're not coming," he demanded, not wanting to put anyone else directly in harm's way.

"Tell me what's going on," Tallulah responded stubbornly.

"There's nothing you can do. Go back," he insisted.

"Look, whoever's taken Rose, they could've taken Laszlo, couldn't they?" she asked.

"Tallulah, you're not safe down here."

"Then that's my problem. Come on. Which way?" she told him and started walking away.

"This way," he acquiesced and led her in the opposite direction. She followed him, glad that he had stopped trying to send her back for the moment.

#################

Rose was kicking and fighting the pig men all the way, hoping that she could break free of their grasp. "Let me go!" she shouted at them. After a few moments, she decided to calm down and fight the instinct to fight against her captors. She allowed herself to be taken, fighting more for show than anything. To make them less suspicious.

If you wanted to know what was going on, getting captured was often the easiest way.

Rose was led to a group of people and pushed roughly against the wall amongst them. They were formed into a rough line.

"Rose," a familiar voice with a deep, Southern drawl greeted her, making Rose spin around to see the owner of it.

"You're alive!" she exclaimed. "I'm so glad to see you!" One of the pigmen pushed both her and Frank forward. "Alright, alright, we're going," she told it, turning around and following the person in front of her.

"Where are they taking us?" Frank wondered.

"Dunno, but we're about to find out," Rose whispered to him. "The little piggies are going to let us in."

"Yeah, but where's the Big, Bad Wolf to blow their house down?" Frank asked.

Rose froze for a moment. "Oh," she said, in shock. Her mind was working furiously to put all of the pieces together.

One of the pig slaves shoved her. "I'm going!" she yelled in exasperation.

######################

"When you say, they've taken her, who's they exactly? And who are you anyway? I never asked," Tallulah questioned the Doctor as they walked through the dark tunnels.

"Shush," he told her suddenly and pulled her into an alcove where they wouldn't be seen.

"Okay, okay," she mumbled and he shushed her more insistently as he could see the silhouette of a Dalek roll past them.

"I mean you're handsome and all…" she began but was silenced by his hand clasping over her mouth before the alien found them.

The Doctor watched as it rolled away down the tunnel and cursed angrily. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no. They survived. They always survive while we lose everything."

"That metal thing? What was it?" Tallulah wondered.

"It's called a Dalek. And it's not just metal, it's alive," he explained.

"You're kidding me."

"Does it look like I'm kidding? Inside that shell is a creature born to hate, whose only thought is to destroy everything and everyone that isn't a Dalek too. It won't stop until it's killed every human being alive," he responded curtly.

"But if it's not a human being, that kind of implies it's from outer space," she argued and he simply gave her a firm look. "Yet again, that's a no with the kidding. Boy. Well, what's it doing here, in New York?" she questioned once she realized that the whole situation was a bit over her head.

"Every second you're down here, you're in danger. I'm taking you back right now," he demanded and began leading her back toward the ladder that led into the theatre.

They suddenly saw one of the pig creatures ahead of them and Tallulah dashed behind the Doctor with a shriek.

"Where's Rose? What have you done with her? What have you done with my Rose?" the Doctor shouted angrily.

"I didn't take her," the creature replied.

"Can you remember your name?" the Doctor asked when he realized that this one was different from the others. He wasn't completely transformed into a mindless animal.

"Don't look at me," he responded and ducked back into the shadows when Tallulah peeked out from behind the Doctor.

"Do you know where she is?" she questioned.

"Stay back! Don't look at me," he warned them as they tried to approach.

"What happened to you?" the Doctor asked, hoping to get some information about what the Daleks were planning with all of this.

"They made me a monster," he answered bitterly.

"Who did?" the Doctor pressed.

"The masters."

"The Daleks," he corrected. "Why?"

"They needed slaves. They needed slaves to steal more people so they created us. Part animal, part human. I escaped before they got my mind, but it was still too late," the pig creature responded.

"Do you know what happened to Rose?" he asked, hoping that he wouldn't be too late to save her from a similar fate.

"They took her. It's my fault. She was following me," he replied.

"Were you in the theatre?" Tallulah questioned curiously, trying to catch a better glimpse of him where he was hiding in the shadows.

"I never. Yes," he admitted.

"Why? Why were you there?" she demanded.

"I never wanted you to see me like this," he told her with a sigh.

"Why me? What I got to do with this? Were you following me? Is that why you were there?" she accused him tearfully.

He turned to face her and stepped slightly into the light. "Yes."

"Who are you?" she asked desperately, sure that she recognized the voice speaking to her.

"I was lonely," he told her.

"Who are you?"

"I needed to see you," he added.

"Who are you?"

"I'm sorry." He turned despondently and began to walk away from her.

"No, wait. Let me look at you," she called after him and moved to look more closely at his face. As she looked past the pig-like traits that had been forced onto him, she saw familiar features gazing back at her. "Laszlo? My Laszlo? Oh, what have they done to you?" she cried.

"I'm sorry. So sorry," he gasped and held her hands.

"Laszlo, can you show me where they are?" the Doctor interrupted.

"They'll kill you," he argued.

"If I don't stop them, they'll kill everyone," the Doctor replied plainly.

"Then follow me," he told him and led the way to where he knew they'd find the most recent prisoners.

########################

"What are they keeping us here for?" Frank questioned in a low voice. They had been stopped and were being watched over, like they were waiting on something.

"I dunno, Frank, but I've got a nasty feeling about this. Whatever they want us for can't be good," Rose answered. The pig men around them looked nervous about something.

"What're they doing? What's wrong? What's wrong?" Frank questioned, looking a bit worried himself. The people around them had started talking.

"Silence. Silence," a very familiar, mechanical voice ordered everyone.

"Oh, no," Rose whispered, shaking her head. "Why them?" Memories of every other time she'd met up with Daleks flashed in her mind, ending with the last time, which was also when she lost her mother and nearly got sucked into the void. Were they never going to be free of the things?

"You will form a line. Move. Move!" the Dalek ordered. Everyone was put back into a line, up against the wall this time. Rose didn't want to be singled out. Who knew if these Daleks could recognize her? So for the moment, she stood against the wall, pressing herself back and trying to seem smaller than she was. She'd observe, for now.

A second Dalek rolled into the space where they were at the moment, and Rose noticed that this one was missing pieces of its armor.

"Report," the second Dalek ordered the first.

"These are strong specimens. They will help the Dalek cause," the first one responded automatically. "What is the status of the Final Experiment?" it asked.

"The Dalekanium is in place. The energy conductor is now complete," the second Dalek informed its counterpart.

"Then I will extract prisoners for selection," the first Dalek said. A pigman brought the first person in line forward towards the Dalek.

"Intelligence scan. Initiate," the Dalek said and stuck its plunger looking arm in the old man's face.

Rose was reminded of the first Dalek she had come across. It had used it's black sucker to kill the first person it had killed after she had touched it. On the day when she had lost her mother, the scientist who had been overseeing the sphere had died at the end of that device.

It took everything she had not to rush forward and try to pull the old man away.

"Reading brain waves. Low intelligence," the Dalek informed everyone.

"You calling me stupid?" the old man indignantly asked.

"Silence! This one will become a pig slave. Next," the Dalek ordered.

"No, let go of me. I'm not becoming one of them. No!" the old man yelled as he was being dragged away. He fought with everything he had, but the pigmen were too strong for him.

The Dalek paid him no mind as he moved to the next person in line. "Intelligence scan. Initiate."

#############

The Doctor, Laszlo, and Tallulah watched what was happening from a hiding place nearby. The Doctor was very glad to see that both Rose and Frank seemed to be safe for now.

"They're divided into two groups. High intelligence and low intelligence. The low intelligence are taken to become pig slaves like me," Laszlo explained.

"Well, that's not fair," Tallulah protested a little too loudly and was promptly shushed again by the Doctor. "You're the smartest guy I ever dated," she whispered.

"And the others?" the Doctor prompted, hoping he could learn more of their plan before he revealed himself to them.

"They're taken to the laboratory," Laszlo informed him.

"Why? What for?" he wondered.

"I don't know. The masters only call it the Final Experiment," the pig-man replied.

They watched as Frank was scanned by the Dalek. "Superior intelligence," it reported.

Rose was next. She tried to look away so that the thing wouldn't recognize her, for the moment, it seemed to work. "Intelligence scan, initiate. Superior intelligence. This one will become part of the Final Experiment," it ordered.

Rose bit her tongue, not wanting to draw extra attention on herself until the Doctor could come up with a plan.

"Prisoners of high intelligence will be taken to the transgenic laboratory," the Dalek instructed the pig slaves and they began leading the two groups to their designated locations.

"Look out, they're moving!" the Doctor told the others quietly.

Laszlo began to lead Tallulah away to safety, but the Doctor moved to follow the group of prisoners.

"Doctor. Doctor, quickly!" Laszlo called after him.

"I'm not coming. I've got an idea. You go," he told them.

"Laszlo, come on," Tallulah hissed when he hesitated.

"Can you remember the way?" he asked her, wanting to help however he could to stop these monsters from hurting anyone else.

"Yeah, I think so," she responded.

"Then go, please."

"But Laszlo, you got to come with me," she pleaded tearfully.

"Where would I go? Tallulah, I'm begging you. Save yourself. Just run. Just go. Go," he insisted and urged her down the tunnel away from them.

Once she was gone, he joined the other slaves as they escorted the prisoners. The Doctor slipped into line right behind Rose and whispered over her shoulder, "Just keep walking."

"Glad you could join us," she responded.

"Yeah, well, you can kiss me later," he told her.

"I'll hold you to that. Maybe not in front of the Daleks, yeah?" Rose suggested and he grasped her hand and squeezed it in support.

They arrived in a large room that seemed to have been converted into some kind of laboratory. There was a lot of equipment everywhere and the Dalek in the centre of the room seemed to be hooked up to something. It was shaking and there was steam or smoke coming from it.

"Report," ordered the Dalek that had just led them there.

"Dalek Sec is in the final stage of evolution," the other responded.

"Scan him. Prepare for birth," the first instructed.

"Evolution?" the Doctor whispered.

"What do they mean, birth?" Rose wondered.

"Not sure, but I think it's time for a distraction, come on," he told her and pulled her back behind the pillars. He pulled the radio he'd used earlier from his pocket and nudged her around where she could sneak in behind them. " _When I've got their attention, get over there and make as big a mess of their equipment as you can manage,"_ he told her telepathically as he clasped her hand tightly. She could feel his anxiety and fear, but they'd faced worse situations before.

"What's this all about?" Frank called out suddenly. "Why are you taking us here?"

"You will bear witness," one of the Daleks informed him, turning away from the black one for a moment.

"And just what are we supposed to be witnessing?" Frank asked.

"This is the dawn of a new age," it replied.

Rose was glad of Frank at that moment. He provided a great distraction so she could get around. She could have done it either way, but it was easier with the Daleks' attention elsewhere.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he wondered.

"We are the only four Daleks in existence, so the species must evolve a life outside the shell. The Children of Skaro must walk again."

Dalek Sec's casing stopped whatever it was doing and the light in its eye blinked out. There was a hissing sound as the casing opened and what looked like a man in a suit uncurled himself from inside.

"What the hell is it?" Frank gasped.

The new creature that came out of the black Dalek's shell was a mix of human and Dalek traits. It had one eye, and short, stubby tentacles on it's head, but a chin much like a human's. It was wearing a black pinstriped suit that Rose was sure she'd seen before, on Diagoras. They had been using humans to make the pig slaves, and humans had been used to make the Daleks on the Gamestation, but it surprised her to see Daleks using humans in this way. The one that had been 'contaminated' with her DNA in Van Stratton's bunker thought it was defective.

"I am a human Dalek. I am your future," the Dalek that was once Diagoras told everyone.


	20. Evolution of the Daleks Pt 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit more of a change here.

Rose and the Doctor stared at the strange creature in shock. They certainly hadn't expected anything like this when they discovered that they were dealing with Daleks.

"These humans will become like me. Prepare them for hybridisation," Dalek Sec proclaimed.

The Doctor urged Rose back toward the equipment as he hid behind one of the large pillars in the room and fiddled with the radio for a moment. The pig slaves started pulling the other prisoners toward their fate and the people protested loudly, rightfully terrified of what would happen. The Doctor got the radio going and the music shocked their enemies for a moment.

"What is that sound?" Sec wondered.

"Ah, well, now, that would be me," the Doctor admitted and stepped out into the middle of the Daleks and toward Dalek Sec to get a closer look at what they had done to Diagoras to make these changes. "Hello. Surprise. Boo. Et cetera."

"Doctor," Sec acknowledged once he recognized him.

"The enemy of the Daleks," one of the other Daleks shrieked.

"Exterminate!" decreed a third.

"Wait!" Sec ordered loudly, halting the others immediately.

"Well, then. A new form of Dalek. Fascinating and very clever," the Doctor told them admiringly.

"The Cult of Skaro escaped your slaughter," Sec informed him. He didn't know that they had escaped from Canary Wharf. They thought all of the Daleks had gone into the void.

"How did you end up in 1930?" the Doctor questioned.

"Emergency temporal shift," Sec explained.

"Oh, that must have roasted up your power cells, huh?" the Doctor laughed. "Time was, four Daleks could have conquered the world, but instead you're skulking away, hidden in the dark, experimenting. All of which results in you."

"I am Dalek in human form," Sec told him proudly.

"What does it feel like? You can talk to me, Dalek Sec. It is Dalek Sec, isn't it? That's your name? You've got a name and a mind of your own. Tell me what you're thinking right now," the Doctor prompted, hoping that some of humanity's compassion had been transferred to him as well.

"I feel humanity," Sec admitted and turned to pace the room slightly. The Doctor hoped that he wouldn't catch sight of Rose.

"Good. That's good," the Doctor responded with a glimmer of hope.

"I feel everything we wanted from mankind, which is ambition, hatred, aggression and war. Such a genius for war," Sec announced, basking in the success of their experiment.

"No, that's not what humanity means," the Doctor denied.

"I think it does. At heart, this species is so very Dalek," Sec argued.

"Alright, so what have you achieved then, with this Final Experiment, eh? Nothing! Because I can show you what you're missing with this thing. A simple little radio," the Doctor told them, interrupting their twisting of the human psyche.

"What is the purpose of that device?" one of the other Daleks questioned.

"Well, exactly," the Doctor agreed insincerely. "It plays music. What's the point of that?" he scoffed. "Oh, with music, you can dance to it, sing with it, fall in love to it." He looked right at Rose when he said that last bit, but he couldn't linger without giving away her position. "Unless you're a Dalek of course. Then it's all just noise."

Without any other warning he pointed the sonic screwdriver at the little radio and turned it on. A shrieking noise was heard, and the Daleks and pigmen were affected.

For Rose, his last word was her cue. She had already started pulling on wires by the time the noise started. Several large ones had come loose, and she was yanking on a very thick wire when the Doctor yelled, "Run!"

The others had started escaping when the thick cable broke free. The Doctor called out her name, and she threw the end of the thick cable at the nearest Dalek and ran off, taking the Doctor's hand when she came up level to him.

Rose heard the Daleks shouting, "Protect the hybrid! Protect. Protect. Protect!" as she ran with the Doctor.

"Come on! Move, move, move, move, move!" the Doctor shouted at the group of escaped humans when he and Rose caught up to them. As they ran, they came across Tallulah, standing there all alone. "And you, Tallulah! Run!" the Doctor ordered.

"What's happened to Laszlo?" Tallulah asked.

"Come on if you wanna live!" Rose shouted as she grabbed the blonde woman's arm to pull her along. The Doctor led them to one of the ladders leading out of the shaft.

"Come on! Everyone up! Come on!" the Doctor urged the group up the ladder, as fast as he could get them to move. They left the sewer and Rose helped the Doctor put the cover back on the manhole, to make it slightly harder to find them, then took off after the group.

Their running eventually brought them to Hooverville, where they met up with Solomon. Frank explained to his friend what had happened with the Daleks as the Doctor held Rose tightly and rubbed her back. They both needed a few minutes to calm themselves before facing their greatest enemies again.

"These Daleks, they sound like the stuff of nightmares. And they want to breed?" Solomon asked incredulously.

"They're splicing themselves onto human bodies, and if I'm right, they've got a farm of breeding stock right here in Hooverville," the Doctor corrected, since Solomon didn't seem to understand that this wasn't exactly breeding. "You've got to get everyone out."

"Hooverville's the lowest place a man can fall. There's nowhere else to go," he argued stubbornly.

"They'll find you here! It's not a matter of living somewhere right now, it's a matter of not being slaughtered while you're hanging about!" Rose shouted.

"I'm sorry, Solomon. You've got to scatter. Go anywhere. Down to the railroads, travel across state. Just get out of New York," the Doctor insisted.

"There's got to be a way to reason with these things," Solomon told them.

"Please, Solomon, I've watched these things kill people by the thousands. They destroy entire planets without a thought," Rose informed him firmly.

"You ain't seen them, boss," Frank agreed.

"Daleks are bad enough at anytime, but right now they're vulnerable. That makes them more dangerous than ever," the Doctor added, taking Rose's hand and squeezing it in support. He could feel her fear and anxiety buzzing at the edge of his mind and reached out to soothe her telepathically. Rose turned to look up at him appreciatively.

A whistle sounded loudly from another part of Hooverville and someone shouted, "They're coming! They're coming!"

"A sentry. He must have seen something," Solomon responded. Apparently, he had used some of his knowledge as a soldier to set up some defences around the area.

"They're here! I've seen them! Monsters! They're monsters!" a man shouted as he ran toward them.

"It's started," the Doctor said knowingly and pulled Rose tighter against his side protectively.

Rose prepared herself for a fight. Not only against the Daleks, but the Doctor had a history of trying to send her away to safety. Every time they had faced these things, he pushed her away and she had to fight her way back in. She hoped that the changes in their relationship would change that as well, but she had a feeling that he would just be even more protective now.

"We're under attack! Everyone to arms!" Solomon called as he handed out all the weapons that they had managed to find to defend themselves.

"I'm ready, boss, but all of you, find a weapon! Use anything," Frank replied confidently.

Several people screamed when they saw the pig slaves approaching and ran.

"Come back! We've got to stick together! It's not safe out there! Come back!" Solomon warned and they heard the shouting as people were captured.

"We need to get these people out of here," Rose told the Doctor.

"We can't. They're on all sides. They're driving everyone back towards us," the Doctor replied.

"We're trapped," Tallulah whined.

"Then we stand together. Gather round. Everybody come to me. You there, Jethro, Harry, Seamus, stay together," Solomon told everyone bravely. "They can't take all of us."

"That's what you think," Rose said despondently.

"They can take whole planets. One little park won't stop them," the Doctor agreed. One of the Daleks flew over the burning village, firing on the fleeing humans as it approached.

"What in this world is-?" Solomon gasped in disbelief.

"It's the devil. A devil in the sky. God save us all. It's damnation," one of the men cried.

"Oh yeah? We'll see about that!" Frank argued and raised his shotgun to fire on the alien. The shot bounced off of its casing, of course.

"Don't! You'll just make it see you as a threat and kill you faster," Rose told him.

"That's not going to work," the Doctor insisted.

"They sent two? One is more than enough," Rose wondered when a second Dalek flew into the camp. With the arrival of the second Dalek, they both started firing on the camp, targeting the tents and anyone who thought they'd be a great place to hide.

"The humans will surrender," one of the Daleks ordered.

"Leave them alone. They've done nothing to you!" the Doctor shouted futilely.

"We have located the Doctor," the nearest Dalek announced. Solomon stepped forward suddenly.

"Don't," Rose tried to stop the older man. "Don't stand out."

"No, Solomon. Stay back," the Doctor said at the same time. Neither one of them made any impression on the leader of the camp.

"I'm told that I'm addressing the Daleks. Is that right?" he called out to the Daleks flying overhead. Both of which had stilled when the Doctor shouted. "From what I hear, you're outcasts too," he continued.

.

"Solomon, don't!" the Doctor begged.

"Doctor, this is my township. You will respect my authority. Just let me try," he finally acknowledged the Doctor without looking at him. "Daleks, ain't we all the same? Underneath, ain't we all kin?" he asked as he laid down his rifle. "Right. See, I've just discovered this past day, God's universe is a thousand times the size I thought it was. And that scares me. Oh yeah, terrifies me right down to the bone. But surely it's got to give me hope. Hope that maybe together we can make a better tomorrow. So, I beg you now, if you have any compassion in your hearts, then you'll meet with us and stop this fight."

Rose thought it was a beautiful speech, but she knew it wouldn't sway the Daleks.

"Well? What do you say?" Solomon asked when he was finished. There was only one answer a Dalek would give.

"Exterminate." The Dalek shot Solomon for his daring. The green beam made him look like he was standing in an x-ray before he dropped to the ground.

"No! Solomon!" Frank yelled and ran to his body.

Rose closed her eyes in grief for a couple of seconds. Solomon was a good man. She then opened her eyes, remembering that she needed to keep an eye on the Daleks.

"Daleks. Alright, take me! Will that stop you attacking these people?" the Doctor shouted desperately, pushing Rose behind him. She hated when he did that and went back around him, standing off to the side so he couldn't grab her again.

"I will be the destroyer of our greatest enemy," one of the Daleks announced.

"No! I can help you with your plan. Take me back to your laboratory," the Doctor tried to negotiate. Anything to buy some time and give him a chance to stop them.

"Exterminate," the Dalek shouted as if it hadn't heard him at all.

"No!" Rose screamed and threw herself in front of the Doctor. He grabbed a hold of her tightly and they waited for the shot that would surely kill them both, but it never came.

The alien hesitated for a moment as if listening to orders. "I do not understand. It is the Doctor," it said. "The urge to kill is too strong," it added after another pause, its gun twitching as if the creature were barely restraining itself. "I obey."

"What's going on?" the Doctor questioned, never had he seen a Dalek behave like this.

"You will follow," the Dalek ordered the Doctor.

"Then I'm going with him," Rose announced loudly.

The Doctor turned her in his arms and stared into her eyes desperately. " _This is so dangerous, Rose,"_ he told her telepathically, sending her his fear for her deliberately.

" _I won't be any safer here. And you know that I'll just follow you if you try to leave me behind,"_ she told him confidently.

He clutched her shoulders more tightly and sighed in resignation. The Doctor knew only too well the lengths that she would go to to follow him and make sure he was safe. Rose would indeed be safer by his side. While he really could use her help figuring out the problem from another angle, he was also terrified to let her out of his sight right now.

"Two conditions! Rose stays with me, and you spare the lives of everyone here! Do you hear me?" the Doctor shouted, stepping closer to the Daleks. He reached back and clutched Rose's hand desperately.

"The Killer of the Emperor will follow and the humans will be spared, Doctor," it agreed. "This Abomination's presence will keep you from working against us," it reasoned.

"But, Doctor, what do we do?" Frank questioned desperately.

"Frank, we'll stop them, I swear," the Doctor assured him before he turned and followed the Daleks.

########

Tallulah paced in the camp, not knowing what to do.

On one hand, these people sure looked like they could use help cleaning up the mess and helping to fix up people with burns and such. People around her were pouring water on the burning remains of tents and cleaning up after the one-sided fight that the Doctor had ended.

On the other hand, Laszlo was still down in the tunnels, and she wanted to save him. Part pig or not, he was still her Laszlo.

She wouldn't clean the mess up. No, she'd go save her Laszlo.

"What are you doing?" Frank questioned when Tallulah went to leave the camp. "This is New York City, at night, and those things are still out there. It ain't safe."

"I have to go find my Laszlo," Tallulah replied.

"He'd want you to stay safe," Frank replied.

"Yeah? Well ain't nowhere safe," Tallulah replied, pulling her arm away from him and stalking off.

Several seconds later, she heard someone running up behind her. "I can't let a pretty lady go off into a dangerous situation alone," Frank said.

The two of them went to the cover they had come out of and opened it. Frank went down first and Tallulah followed. The two of them followed the path Frank remembered escaping by.

############

The Doctor and Rose were led by the Daleks back to the room that they had just fled. The damage that Rose had caused to the equipment was being repaired. The Doctor wasted no time as he stormed toward Dalek Sec angrily.

"Those people were defenceless! You only wanted me, but no, that wasn't enough for you. You had to start killing, because that's the only thing a Dalek's good for," he growled at him.

"The deaths were wrong," Sec told him, causing the other Daleks to roll back in shock and look at their leader for a moment. The Doctor and Sec himself didn't seem to have noticed their reaction, but Rose saw it and took note that there might be a mutiny on their hands if Sec wasn't careful.

"I'm sorry?" the Doctor asked confusedly.

"That man, their leader, Solomon. He showed courage," Sec explained.

"And that's good?" the Doctor questioned.

"That's excellent," Sec told him.

"Is it me or are you just becoming a little bit more human?" the Doctor wondered at this drastic change in attitude.

"You are the last of your kind, and now I am the first of mine," Sec said proudly.

"Alright, so what can I do then? For this new species of yours?" the Doctor wondered.

"We tried everything to survive when we found ourselves stranded in this ignorant age. First we tried growing new Dalek embryos, but their flesh was too weak," Sec explained.

"Yeah, I found one of your experiments. Just left to die out there in the dark," the Doctor chastised.

"It forced us to conclude what is the greatest resource of this planet. Its people," Sec said and turned on the lights, illuminating hundreds of stretchers suspended above them in the room. Each held a body, covered with a white sheet. Sec flicked a switch and one of the stretchers lowered for inspection. "We stole them. We stole human beings for our purpose. Look inside."

The Doctor uncovered the man's face and Rose took his arm as she peered around from behind him. The man looked to be asleep, but they knew that it was more than that or these people would wake up and fall.

"This is the true extent of the Final Experiment," Sec announced.

"Is he dead?" the Doctor asked.

"Near death, with his mind wiped, ready to be filled with new ideas," Sec informed him.

"Yeah, and I can guess what kind of ideas those would be," Rose growled.

"Dalek ideas," the Doctor added.

"The Human Dalek race," Sec agreed.

"How many people have you killed here?" Rose questioned, her heart breaking for all of them. It reminded her of all the people from the Game Station that had been used to make all of those Daleks. It was always the same with these things.

"We have caverns beyond this store more than a thousand," Sec replied.

"Is there any way to restore them? Make them human again?" the Doctor asked, assessing just how much he could fix and how much was already too late to be saved.

"Everything they were has been lost," Sec admitted.

"So they're like shells. You've got empty human beings ready to be converted. That's going to take a hell of a lot of power. This planet hasn't even split the atom yet. How're you going to do it?" he wondered. They had to have some idea of their resources.

"Open the conductor plan," Sec ordered and one of the Daleks activated a control that brought up their plans on the screen nearby.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. The Empire State Building. We're right underneath that. I worked that out already, thanks. But what, you've hijacked the whole building?" the Doctor questioned as he looked at the plans on the screen. Rose was trying to keep up with what was happening so that she could help out as soon as the Doctor had a plan.

"We needed an energy conductor," Sec responded, as if that was the most logical thing in the world.

"What for?" he asked, trying to get as much information about how this was all happening as possible.

"I am the genetic template. My altered DNA was to be administered to each human body. A strong enough blast of gamma radiation can splice the Dalek and human genetic codes, and waken each body from its sleep," Sec explained.

"Gamma radiation? What are you..? Oh, the sun. You're using the sun," the Doctor realized.

"Soon the greatest solar flare for a thousand years will hit the Earth. Gamma radiation will be drawn to the energy conductor and when it strikes..." Sec began.

"The army wakes. I still don't know what you need me for," the Doctor concluded. He had told them that he could help to give him time, but Sec had given the order, so he had to have some sort of plan for what he wanted from him.

"Your genius. Consider a pure Dalek, intelligent but emotionless," Sec told him.

"Removing the emotions makes you stronger. That's what your creator thought, all those years ago," the Doctor responded, echoing the mantra that Davros had preached for centuries.

"He was wrong," Sec said simply.

"He was what?" the Doctor asked, shocked.

"Huh?" Rose wondered at the same time, sure she was hearing things. She'd have said it was a trick if the other Daleks hadn't been acting the way they had.

"It makes us lesser than our enemies. We must return to the flesh, and also the heart," Sec asserted, putting a mutated hand over the spot where his heart resided.

"But you wouldn't be the supreme beings anymore," the Doctor argued.

"Yeah, you'd be completely different," Rose spoke up, suspiciously.

"And that is good," Sec claimed with a small smile.

"That is incorrect," one of the Daleks spoke up suddenly.

"Daleks are supreme," another Dalek declared.

"No, not anymore," Sec disagreed.

"But that is our purpose," the last Dalek argued.

"Then our purpose is wrong. Where has our quest for supremacy led us? To this. Hiding in the sewers on a primitive world, just four of us left. If we do not change now then we deserve extinction," Sec replied.

Rose felt her worry spike. The other Daleks were not going to go along with this. The Doctor would see it as an opportunity, she was sure. A chance to allow these creatures to live, but not have them slaughtering innocent thousands. But it wouldn't work, the other Daleks would fight it.

"So you want to change everything that makes a Dalek a Dalek?" the Doctor asked, just to be sure that he was understanding this correctly.

"If you can help me," Sec agreed.


	21. Evolution of the Daleks Pt 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now the end of Evolution of the Daleks. This chapter goes a bit further off the storyline :D We hope you love it!
> 
> Thanks for all the comments, it means a lot to us!

 

XxXxXxXx

"Your knowledge of genetic engineering is even greater than ours. The new race must be ready by the time the solar flare erupts," Sec explained to the Doctor.

"But you're the template. I thought they were getting a dose of you," the Doctor argued.

"I want to change the gene sequence," Sec informed him.

"To what?" Rose asked suspiciously. She still didn't trust this Dalek hybrid any more than she trusted the full Daleks inside their shells.

"To make them even more human?" the Doctor asked, having seemed to grasp what the ex-Dalek was getting at.

"Humans are the great survivors. We need that ability," Sec said, as if it were that simple.

"What, you can change DNA around just like that?" Rose asked.

"You've seen it before," the Doctor told her. "Several times, in fact. Species changing, adapting better defenses and abilities from other species."

"Yeah. But it's that easy?"" Rose asked.

"It can be. Depends," the Doctor replied with a look that Rose couldn't quite decipher. "But are they going to just let you do it?" he asked Sec, indicating the three Daleks.

"I am their leader," the Dalek hybrid explained.

"Oh, and that's enough for you, is it?" the Doctor asked the Daleks skeptically.

"Daleks must follow orders," one Dalek said.

"Dalek Sec commands. We obey," another Dalek agreed.

"If you don't help me, nothing will change," Sec pleaded.

"There's no room on Earth for another race of people," the Doctor argued.

"You have your TARDIS," Sec pointed out. "Take us across the stars. Find us a new home and allow the new Daleks to start again."

With his words, Rose knew the Doctor was going to help. He wouldn't be able to refuse. That was the same offer he'd given to so many, and so few took it. She looked to the Doctor, who looked back at her, and, with a nod, she let him know she agreed. She only hoped it was the right choice and they weren't just making a stronger race of Daleks to burn through the stars.

"When's that solar flare?" the Doctor asked.

"Eleven minutes," Sec replied automatically.

"Right then. Better get to work," the Doctor said as he did just that.

While Rose waited for him to need her for something, she decided to interrogate a Dalek to get more information, just in case. "So, how's this solar flare supposed to be drawn to the conductor?" she asked.

"It will come in the form of a lightning bolt," one Dalek answered. "The energy will skip across the atmospheric and magnetic shell of the Earth and gather as electricity."

"So, like Frankenstein, yeah?" Rose questioned.

"I do not understand the reference," the Dalek replied.

"Pretty much," the Doctor called as he compared solutions.

"Why're you lot missing bits of your armor?" Rose questioned, hoping she wasn't pushing too hard.

"Dalekanium panels were necessary," the Dalek responded in its monotone. "Between the electrical conduit and the final destination." It then rolled off, and Rose knew she wouldn't get anything else out of that one.

"There's no point in chromosomal grafting, it's too erratic. You need to split the genome and force the Dalek/human sequence right into the cortex," the Doctor reasoned, peering at a solution.

"We need more chromatin solution," Sec ordered one of the Daleks.

"The pig slaves have it," it replied. A few of the pig men came in, carrying a crate. Rose noticed that one of them was the one that was different. Tallulah's boyfriend, Laszlo.

"These pig slaves, what happens to them in the grand plan?" the Doctor wondered, looking right at Laszlo, who was coming over.

"Nothing. They're just simple beasts. Their lifespan is limited. None survive beyond a few weeks," Sec explained as if it didn't mean anything that they'd killed these people. "Power up the line feeds," he ordered.

"Laszlo, I can't undo what they've done to you, but they won't do it to anyone else," the Doctor promised the man.

"Do you trust him?" Laszlo asked.

"I know that one man can change the course of history. Right idea in the right place at the right time, it's all it takes. I've got to believe it's possible," he answered.

Rose came over and touched the Doctor's skin. " _I don't, not one bit,"_ she told him. " _Maybe Sec's okay, but the rest of them..."_

" _I know,"_ he replied, " _but I've got to give them a chance."_

" _They've got panels they need for the process near the energy conductor. Just in case,"_ she informed him.

" _Why so suspicious?"_ he questioned. She could tell that he was as well.

" _They're Daleks. Even worse, they're Daleks who are playing with hybridization with human genes, and that's never worked out well in my experience,"_ she replied. She sent him the image of what the Daleks had done while he'd been whispering with Laszlo. " _They're planning something."_

The Doctor studied her for a second, then nodded.

"The line feeds are ready," a Dalek announced.

"Then it's all systems go," the Doctor spoke up enthusiastically.

"The solar flare is imminent. The radiation will reach Earth in a matter of minutes," Sec worried.

"We'll be ready for it," the Doctor promised. He filled up a syringe with the liquid he'd been working on while he talked with everyone else. "That compound will allow the gene bonds to reconfigure in a brand new pattern," he informed everyone. "Power up!"

Laszlo and one of the other pig men threw the breakers to power up the process.

"Start the line feeds," Sec ordered.

"There goes the gene solution,' the Doctor said.

"The life blood," Sec commented.

Everyone in the room watched the blue liquid bubble through the tubes and make its way to the bodies lying everywhere. Despite her misgivings, Rose watched in awe at the new lifeforms being created right in front of her. Something good could come out of the horrible mess.

Suddenly, an alarm went off.

"What's that?" the Doctor asked.

"What's happening? Is there a malfunction?" Sec queried the Daleks. "Answer me! " he commanded the Daleks, who remained silent. The Doctor rushed over and looked at the equipment.

"No, no, no. The gene feed! They're overriding the gene feed!" he exclaimed.

"Impossible. They cannot disobey orders," Sec denied.

"And, yet, they are," Rose told him.

"The Doctor will step away from the controls," the third Dalek ordered.

"Stop! You will not fire," Sec commanded.

"He is an enemy of the Daleks," the Dalek countered.

"And so are you," the second one added, pointing its laser weapon at the Dalek/human hybrid.

"I am your commander. I am Dalek Sec!" he explained in the loudest voice Rose had ever heard him use. Maybe that was all he could do anymore.

"You have lost your authority," the first Dalek said.

"You are no longer a Dalek," the third Dalek accused.

"What have you done with the gene feed?" the Doctor questioned while Rose got near him, ready to leg it out of there.

"The new bodies will be one hundred percent Dalek," one of them informed him. Rose thought it seemed almost smug.

"No. You can't do this!" Sec shouted.

"Pig slaves, restrain Dalek Sec, The Killer of the Emperor, and the Doctor," the first Dalek ordered. The pig slaves in the room, four in all, rushed to restrain the three of them. Laszlo grabbed the Doctor, so Rose knew he'd be okay. Two grabbed Sec, one at each arm.

"Release me. I created you. I am your master," he protested.

For her part, Rose darted out of the way of the pig man who was coming after her. A second later, an alarm sounded and the Daleks proclaimed that the flare was approaching. One of the slaves holding Sec let go of him and rushed to help capture Rose, leaving the half human standing there, being held on one arm by a slave.

Tallulah burst into the room from the tunnel, followed by Frank. "Laszlo!" she cried out.

"Intruder!" one of the Daleks screamed.

The Doctor and Rose looked at each other, and the Doctor gave a little nod. She could tell that he and Laszlo were trying to appear compliant.

Rose dodged the pig slaves that were trying to apprehend her and ran to the pig slave holding Sec, shoving him from behind to loosen its hold. Sec had been named an enemy of the Daleks, and an enemy of my enemy and all that. "Run, Sec!" she yelled at him

Almost immediately, the Doctor and Laszlo broke away towards Tallulah, Frank, and the lift. Rose followed, and Sec twisted his arm out of the pigman's grasp.

"They are escaping! Stop them!" the Daleks ordered.

"Exterminate!" one of the Daleks screamed. The door of the lift closed just before any of the fully converted pigmen could get inside, and the group saw one of the unfortunate slaves go down in the Dalek's beam.

The lift was a bit on the crowded side with Laszlo, Sec, Frank, Tallulah, The Doctor, and Rose inside. Laszlo and Tallulah were in the corner, holding one another. Frank was in another corner, waiting. Rose was next to the Doctor, who held her hand. Sec was watching everyone else's interactions.

"We've only got minutes before the gamma radiation reaches the Earth. We need to get to the top of the building," the Doctor told everyone.

"There are three panels of Dalekanium taken from Dalek Thay at the base of the lightning conductor," Sec told him. "They are bolted on, but if they can be removed in time, the army will be different when it awakes, more human."

"Laszlo, what's wrong?" Tallulah exclaimed. Everyone turned to look at the couple in the corner. Laszlo was leaning against the wall, breathing hard.

"Out of breath. It's nothing. We've escaped them, Sweetheart. That's all that matters," Laszlo said and stood up straight.

The lift doors opened up, and the Doctor and Rose were the first ones to step out.

"First floor, perfumery," the Doctor joked. While the others stepped out.

"Maybe you should lock that down so they can't follow us," Rose suggested, gesturing to the lift, which still had its doors open.

"Good idea!" the Doctor praised and pointed his screwdriver at the lift. There was a ding and a shower of sparks.

"There are other ways up," Sec pointed out.

"We need some kind of escape," Rose replied.

"Okay. Six minutes to go. I've got to remove the Dalekanium before the gamma radiation hits," the Doctor spoke up as he walked toward the unfinished section.

"Gammon radiation? What the heck is that?" Tallulah wondered as everyone followed the Doctor. They looked out of the building through the opening that would hold a very large window when it was finished.

"Oh, that's high. That's very. Blimey, that's high," the Doctor spoke fearfully, echoing the thoughts Rose had on the matter. She wasn't afraid of heights in general, but they were at an extreme height with nothing between them and the long fall.

"And we've got to move even higher," Rose commented, looking up the wooden ladder nearby. The Doctor joined her.

"Not we," the Doctor corrected. "I'm going up, I need you to stay here."

"There's no way I'm staying here and watching you," Rose fought back. Honestly, she thought he was getting better with this.

"I need you to stay here in case the Pig slaves or Daleks show up," he told her. "And then there's…" He nodded over to Sec, and Rose knew she had to keep an eye on the Dalek hybrid as well, just in case. She nodded, and the Doctor started up the ladder.

"So, there's still a chance of those pigs followin' us up here?" Frank wondered.

"Yeah, or even worse, Daleks," Rose replied.

"The Daleks won't come up here," Sec confidently informed them.

"Why's that, then?" Rose wondered.

"There are only five minutes until the wave reaches here. The Daleks are going to be far too busy to deal with you themselves. Especially when they are one short. I was supposed to be the controller. One of them will have to do it instead," Sec explained.

"So, we need to be ready to fight, just in case," Laszlo declared, and went to pick up the hammer he'd brought. Instead of picking it up, though, he fell against the marble covered pillar next to him.

"Laszlo? What is it?" Tallulah wondered, rushing to his side.

"No, it's nothing. I'm fine. Just leave me," Laszlo denied, but everyone could see that wasn't the case.

"Oh, Honey, you're burning up. What's wrong with you? Tell me!" Tallulah exclaimed.

"Great. One man down, we ain't even started yet," Frank grumbled.

"We don't even know if we need to fight, Frank," Rose told him.

"Nope," Frank agreed as they all heard the thunder and lightning of the storm building.

"Aw, you'll be alright, sweetheart. Don't you worry," Tallulah whispered to Laszlo as she held him.

The rest of the group gathered to discuss what could be done.

"There's still gonna be that lightning strike," Rose observed. "Could it be used?"

"If they arrived here in time," Sec replied, looking around. "I do not think we have enough pipe to reach the service elevator," he calculated.

"Arrival by stairs?" Rose asked.

"Highly unlikely," Sec replied. "They will want to be here before the strike if possible."

"Well," Rose stated and picked up a piece of pipe, giving it a little wiggle to test her grip. "Guess we're gonna have to do this the old fashioned way." She heard the other lift moving. "And the lift's coming."

Sec leaned down and picked up a slightly longer piece of pipe.

"I should have brought that gun," Frank said suddenly.

"Tallulah, stay back. You too, Rose. If they send pig slaves, they're trained to kill," Laszlo warned.

"Not going anywhere, Laszlo," Rose declared. "I'm not delicate."

"They're savages. I should know. They're trained to slit your throat with their bare teeth," Laszlo argued.

"Yeah? Well I can be wild when I wanna be too," Rose stated.

#########

On the top of the building, the Doctor was holding on to the lightning rod while he tried to loosen the bolts that held the three Dalekanium panels to the top of the building. The wind blew fierce, and he wondered how the humans who'd placed it had held on. They were very resilient.

He was to the last panel, when the cold and the rain made him drop his screwdriver. He could see where it landed, but there were only seconds before the strike came. In desperation, he grabbed the mast and wrapped himself around it.

Oh, he hoped he survived this with his face intact.

#############

The lightning struck the building, making it hard to see. Electricity crackled in the air, and Rose had an absurd thought about the metal ball thing she'd played with in school once, and how it made hair literally stand on end.

When the light faded, she blinked to get rid of the afterimage. There were still spots on her vision when the lift dinged and the doors opened. Six pig slaves came out, teeth bared.

The four people fighting each took their weapons and waited for the pig slaves to come to them down the hall. Rose stood to the side of the hallway's exit, pipe at the ready. Sec and Frank stood in full view, each wielding a pipe and a big hammer, respectively. Tallulah stood at the back, nearest Laszlo, who could barely stand. She held a longer pipe.

"They're dying anyway. They're dying anyway," Rose said to herself, then looked to Laszlo, understanding suddenly what was wrong with him. She didn't have long to grieve for the man, though, because the pigs were coming.

As soon as one poked its snout past the doorway, she swung, hitting the pigman in the throat and knocking him down. The others trampled him.

The battle between the four fighters and six pig slaves didn't last long. When everything died down, she realized she'd taken the lives of two of the former humans. She ran into a corner and threw up.

"It was them or us," Frank spoke. He had a cut on his chin, and a couple of bruises coming up.

"The Dalek masters killed them long ago," Laszlo explained.

"They were dying anyway," Sec told them dispassionately.

"The Doctor!" Rose shouted and ran to the ladder. He'd been up there when the strike happened. She went up the ladder as fast as she could. She didn't get far before she found the Doctor's sonic screwdriver, lying on a beam. She tried hard not to think about what that could mean.

When she got to the top, she saw the Doctor lying very still next to the mast. "No!" she screamed and went over there, forgetting just how high up they were and how dangerous it was to be there. She dropped on her knees beside him and cradled his head. "Oh, please, don't be dead," she whispered. Then, the Doctor moaned.

"Doctor!" she exclaimed. "I thought I'd lost you,"

"Can't get rid of me that easily," he joked, then winced. "Ow, my head." He finally opened his eyes and looked right at her. "Hello."

"Hi," she replied.

He focused on her shoulder, and Rose looked at what he was staring at. There was a gash. It wasn't deep, but it had bled freely.

"It's not as bad as it looks," she told him. It was true. It'd already stopped. She hadn't even felt it until just then, thanks to the adrenaline.

"What-?" he started.

"How about we get off of this tiny roof and somewhere a bit safer, first?" Rose asked.

"Right," he agreed. When they got back to the room at the base of the ladder, the Doctor set about fixing her shoulder up while everyone explained what happened.

"...and I found your sonic on the way up," she finished, holding it out to him. The Doctor took it from her and pocketed it. "So, what now?" she asked.

"The Daleks will have gone straight to a war footing. They'll be using the sewers, spreading the soldiers out underneath Manhattan," the Doctor explained.

"Yes. That was the plan," Sec agreed.

"Alright, so what's the plan now?" Rose questioned.

"How do we stop them?" Laszlo wondered doubtfully.

"There's only one chance. I got in the way. That gamma strike went zapping through me first," the Doctor told them.

"And how does that affect what they were doing?" Rose asked him, still upset with him about that little stunt.

"Hopefully, it'll have mixed up the genome a little bit. We need to draw fire. Before they can attack New York, I need to face them. Where can I draw them out? Think, think, think, think, think. We need some sort of space. Somewhere safe. Somewhere out of the way," the Doctor babbled frantically.

"Tallulah," Rose called.

"That's me. Three Ls and an H," she replied brightly, glad to be helpful with all this crazy stuff.

"Can you get us inside the theatre?" Rose suggested.

"The theatre! It's right above them, and, what, it's gone midnight? Brilliant idea, Rose!" the Doctor praised.

"Should be able to get in. Don't see why not," Tallulah told them.

"Everyone, into the service elevator! Allons-y!" the Doctor crowed.

It was definitely a tight fit for all of them, but they made it back down to ground level and ran to the theatre. It was cold and dark inside, now that everyone had gone for the night.

"There ain't nothing more creepy than a theatre in the dark," Tallulah whispered and became concerned when her boyfriend sat heavily in one of the seats. "Laszlo, what's wrong?"

"The slaves..." Sec began, but was cut off by Laszlo with a sharp look.

"Nothing. It's just so hot," he insisted.

"But it's freezing in here. Doctor, what's happening to him?" she questioned worriedly.

"Not now, Tallulah. Sorry," the Doctor told her dismissively. He didn't want to be so cold about it, but they didn't have time to deal with her reaction to Laszlo's fate right now. He used his sonic to try and signal the Daleks.

"You're calling them aren't you?" Rose realized. It was going to be another case of the Doctor trying to talk them to death.

"Yup! If the Daleks are going to war, they'll want to find their number one enemy. I'm just telling them where I am," he responded.

"They will come," Sec agreed. He knew exactly how they functioned and destroying the Doctor before moving on to the rest of the world would be their priority.

"Frank, could you take the ladies back to Hooverville?" the Doctor requested.

"Don't even think about it, Doctor. You know I'm not going anywhere," Rose protested.

"Yeah, what she said," Tallulah added, standing beside her stubbornly as they both crossed their arms.

"Rose," he began, grasping her upper arms. "I did the best I could to stop this, but I don't know if it will be enough."

"And how will we be any safer in the park than here if it didn't work? We're a team, Doctor. I can't leave you to face them alone. I love you too much to go," she argued.

"Oh, Rose," he sighed and hugged her tightly.

"Doctor! Oh, my God! Well, I guess that's them then, huh?" Tallulah cried as dozens of slack-faced humans marched into the room, each holding some kind of gun.

"These are that army you was talking about?" Frank guessed.

"It's alright, it's alright. Just stay calm. Don't antagonize them," the Doctor told his friends and pulled Rose protectively against his side.

"They will wait for orders," Sec informed them.

"But what of the Dalek masters? Where are they?" Laszlo wondered.

"They will come to face the Doctor," Sec replied.

They all sat in the middle of the seats, as far from the soldiers as they could manage. The creatures stared at them blankly with their guns aimed toward the group. It was only a few minutes before the Daleks blasted through the wall and onto the stage of the theatre.

"The Doctor will stand before the Daleks," one of them demanded.

He hopped up on a seat and climbed up to walk over the tops of the chairs. Rose stubbornly followed and stood right next to him, taking his hand in her own. He glanced down at her with an exasperated look, but he did have to admit to himself that she wouldn't be any safer away from him unless she were locked inside the TARDIS right now.

"You will die, Doctor. It is the beginning of a new age," the alien announced.

"Planet Earth will become New Skaro," the other Dalek on the stage added.

"Oh, and what a world. With anything just the slightest bit different ground into the dirt. That's Dalek Sec. Don't you remember? The cleverest Dalek ever and you've exiled him from your own plans. Is that your new Empire, hmm? Is that the foundation for a whole new civilization?" the Doctor questioned as he gestured to the hybrid beside them in the theatre.

"My Daleks, just understand this. If you choose death and destruction, then death and destruction will choose you," Sec tried pleading with them as he got up on the seats with the Doctor and Rose.

"Incorrect. We will always survive," one of them argued.

"Now we will destroy the Doctor's associate, so that we may see him suffer before following her into oblivion," the other threatened and aimed its weapon toward Rose.

"But the Doctor can help you. Spare them and let him help," Sec pleaded.

"Exterminate!" it shouted, as if Sec hadn't spoken at all. The weapon fired toward Rose. The Doctor hurled himself in front of her, but Sec threw himself ahead of both of them, vapourized instantly by the weapon.

The Doctor sighed a shuddering breath, trying to slow his frantic hearts as he looked over his shoulder to where Sec had died. "Your own leader. The only creature who might have led you out of the darkness and you destroyed him. Do you see what they did? Huh? You see what a Dalek really is?" he announced to the new army that stood around them. "If we're going to die, let's give the new boys a shot. What do you think, eh? The Dalek humans. Their first blood. Go on, baptise them."

" _What are you doing?"_ she wondered, a wave of terror flowing freely from her mind to his.

" _Don't worry,"_ he told her. " _I don't think they're going to shoot us."_

" _You don't think!"_ she replied. This was one of his crazy schemes. That thought calmed her somehow.

"Dalek humans, take aim." the Dalek on the right ordered. The lines of people on either side aimed their weapons, which looked like a cross between a Dalek's 's laser weapon and a Tommy gun, right at the Doctor and Rose.

"What are you waiting for? Give the command!" the Doctor yelled, flinging his arms out to the side to make himself a bigger target. Rose stood next to him, where he could wrap his arm around her if he wanted, but she didn't make herself a larger target like he did, she just fought the basic instinct to jump down off of the chair and hide.

"Exterminate!" the Dalek to the right ordered. Rose and the Doctor both tensed up, ready for the hits, but nothing happened.

"Exterminate!" the other Dalek ordered. Still, nothing happened. "Obey. Dalek humans will obey," it screamed.

"Oh," Rose realized. The Doctor had said that he hoped the genome got mixed up a bit.

"You will obey. Exterminate!" the Dalek on the left ordered, shaking back and forth.

"Why?" the first human hybrid to their right asked, looking at the two encased beings on the stage.

"Daleks do not question orders," the Dalek replied.

"But...why?" the same person haltingly asked again.

"You will stop this," the Dalek on the left commanded.

"But why?" the human asked stubbornly and more sure of himself.

Rose was reminded of the last time she'd had to watch her cousins. The twins were five years old at the time, and they both asked her the same question constantly. At the time, she couldn't wait for her mother to get home so she could escape the sticky buggers. She thought of her mother with a pang. The same mother she'd never see again thanks to the Daleks. These same Daleks on the stage. The same Daleks who'd killed the essences of people around her and turned them into...these unfortunate beings.

"You must not question," the Dalek ordered.

"But you are not our master. And we, we are not Daleks," the once fully human man declared.

"No, you're not. And you never will be," the Doctor said proudly. "Sorry, I got in the way of the lightning strike," he told the Daleks on the stage smugly and put his hands in his pockets. "Time Lord DNA got all mixed up. Just that little bit of freedom." He winked, and Rose's mouth dropped open.

All these people around them. They were mostly human, and a little bit Dalek too, but they also had Time Lord DNA in them. They were all, at least partly, his people.

"Oh, wow," Rose whispered reverently. It was brilliant.

"If they will not obey, then they must die," the Dalek to the right declared and shot the man who dared speak.

"Get down!" the Doctor yelled, pulling Rose down with him. Under the sticky seats, she could see the others taking cover.

The battle over their heads was noisy. The Daleks exclaimed their battle cry over and over again, the sounds of two different kinds of lasers could be heard. They heard one Dalek get blown up, followed shortly by the other, then the sounds stopped and Rose and the Doctor dared to look over the seats.

"It's all right. It's all right. It's all right. You did it. You're free," the Doctor assured the group of hybrids. He looked around him proudly. "Brilliant, all of you." He took Rose's hand and smiled at her.

Rose couldn't help but smile back. She could feel his elation. There was also sadness at the number of them that hadn't made it through the battle, but so many had.

Suddenly, there was a squealing sound, and all of the hybrids dropped their weapons, clutched their heads, and dropped to the ground. The Doctor let go of Rose's hand and ran to the nearest one.

"No! They can't! They can't! They can't! They can't!" he repeated in shock. He stood and looked down the row.

"What the hell happened?" Tallulah asked.

"They killed them, rather than let them live. An entire species. Genocide," the Doctor spoke, his anger just beneath the surface.

"Only two of the Daleks have been destroyed. One of the Dalek masters must still be alive," Laszlo reasoned.

"Oh, yes. In the whole universe, just one," the Doctor said darkly and ran off.

Rose's anger and sorrow at what was done here and what was done in the past had transformed into rage. She picked up one of the weapons dropped by the hybrids and went to the laboratory, where she was sure the last Dalek was.

########

The Doctor ran into the laboratory, where the last Dalek was. As soon as he saw it, he slowed down.

"Now what?" he asked it.

"You will be exterminated," it claimed.

He rolled his eyes at the obvious Dalek answer to everything. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Just think about it, Dalek what was your name?"

"Dalek Caan," the Dalek responded.

"Dalek Caan. Your entire species has been wiped out. And now the Cult of Skaro has been eradicated, leaving only you. Right now you're facing the only man in the universe who might show you some compassion. Because-"

"Dalek!" a familiar voice shouted suddenly. He heard footsteps running and turned to see Rose. She had run in and was holding one of the rifles the Dalek/human/Gallifreyan hybrids had dropped. She looked murderous.

"You just couldn't leave them alive, could you?" she asked from between clenched teeth. "You just couldn't let something live, no, you had to kill it, you have to kill everything!" She aimed the dalek weapon at the last Dalek. "You just take and take!"

The Doctor grabbed the barrel and pushed it upright. "I get it, I do, Rose," he said, remembering another time. He turned back to the Dalek and finished what he was going to say, "I've just seen one genocide. I won't cause another, and I won't watch another. Caan, let me help you," he pleaded. "What do you say?"

"Emergency temporal shift!" Caan shouted. There was a flash of bluish-white light, and the Dalek disappeared. Cables fell swinging from it.

The Doctor yelled, "No!" as the last Dalek disappeared from sight.

"Doctor! Doctor! He's sick!" Tallulah shouted as she led her boyfriend into the room. He was leaning on her heavily and having trouble breathing. "What is it, Doctor? What's the matter with him? He says he can't breathe? What is it?"

"It's time, sweetheart," Laszlo told her weakly.

"What do you mean, time? What are you talking about?" she sobbed.

"None of the slaves survive for long. Most of them only live for a few weeks. I was lucky. I held on because I had you. But now, I'm dying, Tallulah," he explained.

"No, you're not. Not now, after all this. Doctor, can't you do something?" she pleaded, tears streaming down her cheeks and smearing her makeup.

"Oh, Tallulah with three Ls and an H, just you watch me. What do I need? Oh, I don't know. How about a great big genetic laboratory? Oh look, I've got one. Laszlo, just you hold on. There's been too many deaths today," the Doctor told him confidently and pulled the stethoscope from his pocket. "Way too many people have died. Brand new creatures and wise old men and age old enemies. And I'm telling you, I'm telling you right now, I am not having one more death! You got that? Not one. Tallulah, out of the way. The Doctor is in."

"Don't worry, Tallulah. He's extra brilliant when he gets like this," Rose assured her as they both watched him work his genius on saving their friend.

########################

"Well, I talked to them, and I told them what Solomon would've said, and I reckon I shamed one or two of them," Frank told the Doctor, Rose, Tallulah, and Laszlo. Laszlo was standing straight and strong, able to do so thanks to the Doctor fixing him up.

"What did they say?" the Doctor wondered.

"They said yes. They'll give you a home, Laszlo. I mean, er, don't imagine people ain't going to stare. I can't promise you'll be at peace but, in the end, that is what Hooverville is for. People who ain't got nowhere else," Frank told him.

"Thank you. I can't thank you enough," Laszlo said, shaking his hand.

Rose and the Doctor made their way back to the TARDIS, which was still standing at the feet of Lady Liberty. Their pace was leisurely, their fingers entwined tightly, as if they were both holding on for dear life. Every encounter with the Daleks was terrifying and reminded them that all of it could come to an end at any moment.

"You think they'll be ok, Doctor?" Rose questioned.

"I don't know. Anywhere else in the universe, I might worry about them, but New York? That's what this city's good at. Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses, and maybe the odd pig slave Dalek mutant hybrid too," the Doctor told her with a laugh.

Rose giggled and bumped his shoulder with her own. "Just imagine their kids!"

He laughed with her at that and pulled out his key to unlock the door to the TARDIS.

"It just proves it, I suppose. There's someone for everyone," Rose said and gazed lovingly into his eyes.

"Yeah," he replied and gave her a small smile.

"We're gonna see it again, aren't we?" Rose questioned.

"Oh, yes. One day," he replied gravely, then brightened up. "Hopefully not too soon."


	22. The Right Moment

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is so fluffy, you might get a cavity. Enjoy!!

The Doctor sent them into the vortex and turned around to face Rose. She sat on the jump seat, was chewing her thumbnail, and looked deep in thought. He remembered that she killed two of the mutated people and was poised to kill the last Dalek.

 

It'd been a horrible day for both of them. The Doctor stepped over to the worn chair and sat down next to her. He knew she wasn’t all right at the moment, but he’d be worried about her if she was perfectly fine and rearing to go. 

 

“How do you do it?” Rose asked, turning to him. “How do you face them again and again after what happened?”

 

“It’s not easy,” the Doctor admitted, wiping the single tear that had escaped from her cheek. “The first time, I dealt with it badly. You know how it was. You were there.” Rose nodded. “It’s never easy. Every time makes me want-” He stopped and ran his hand down his face and and breathed out in a rush of air that puffed his cheeks out. “Anyway, it never gets any easier, not really, not after what happened,” he finished. “I guess, I’ve just learned to hide it better.” 

 

Rose nodded. “I suspected as much,” she replied. 

 

“If you want, we could visit some of your family that’s still on Earth, or some of your friends. That Keisha seemed like a good friend,” he offered, reminding her that she wasn’t alone. She had family, friends, her species and planet. It didn’t make it any easier to lose one’s mother, though.

 

“Does it ever get easier?” Rose wondered. “To lose people, I mean.”

 

He thought about it, about all of the people he’d known and cared for over the years. His first wife had died while he still lived on Gallifrey. It was an arranged marriage, but he still cared for her. His children had all gone missing during the War. His granddaughter, Susan. The companions he’d had over the centuries. Barbara and Ian had been the first, followed by so many bright minds. He felt a pang at the fates of Adric, who’d died, and Jamie and Zoe, who’d never remember all they’d done. 

 

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t’ve-” Rose started, breaking him out of his thoughts. 

 

“No, no, it’s alright, Rose,” he assured her. “I was just thinking about everyone.” He pulled her to his chest in a one armed hug. “It’s impossible to completely close the hole that someone leaves in you when you lose them. You learn to ignore it, but it never goes away. It becomes part of who you are and you try to honor their memory as much as you can.” He kissed her on the top of her head. 

 

“And if you’re lucky, if you’re really lucky, you meet other people who fill the hole in. Or fit around it, and it hurts less.” He looked down at her, meeting her eyes. “And I am a very lucky man.  I’m not a good man. Not by nature, and-”

 

“Yes, you are,” Rose interrupted. Really, he should have predicted her reaction to what he had just said. He shook his head in denial. 

 

“I’m really not,” he replied. “You didn’t see me during the war. You don’t know what I had to do.”

 

“Yeah, but that’s not who you are,” Rose denied. “Things done during battle to save yourself or those you care about don’t enter into who you really are. You saved the rest of the universe, Doctor.  You told me that once.  That it was Gallifrey or the universe, yeah?”

 

He nodded, staring at the floor as he stroked her arm softly.

 

“If you hadn’t done what was necessary, I wouldn’t be here.  Nothing would be here.  Every creature in the entire universe owes their survival to you.  And I love you so much for making those difficult, impossible decisions every single day,” she told him adamantly.

 

“Oh, Rose. Love isn’t even an adequate word. Not remotely close to adequate.  I don’t know if a word exists in any language that could adequately express my feelings for you,” he responded and held her face between his hands.  They gazed into each other’s eyes for several seconds before he leaned in to kiss her softly.

 

Their little trip to New York was supposed to have been fun.  He wanted to give Rose a really special evening to make up for it.  His thoughts raced to all of the fanciest parties and restaurants across the universe and time to figure out the best place to take her.  Of course, he also wanted to be reasonably sure that wherever they went, wouldn’t end up embroiling them in yet another crisis.  Not tonight at least.

 

“Alright!  Off you pop to clean up and dress for a party!  I’m sure the TARDIS will help direct you to something appropriate.  We are going somewhere special and relaxing,” he informed her and jumped up to start setting coordinates.

 

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?  I’m not quite ready to stop another invasion just yet,” she teased, but got up from her seat.

 

“Cheeky!  Go on, you’re gonna love this,” he insisted.

 

Rose walked off toward her room to have a quick shower and get dressed.  Once the TARDIS was on its way, the Doctor also dashed over to his own room to tidy himself up and put on the tuxedo.  The last time that he wore it, was on New Earth, but he was confident that this time, everything would be fine.  He pulled something from his regular suit pocket to put into this one.  

 

Rose returned to the console room just as the Doctor completed the landing sequence.  She was wearing a lovely, dark blue dress, that flared widely and stopped just above her knees.  She wore some matching shoes with low heels, just in case they needed to run.  Her hair was down, in soft curls.

 

“You look lovely, Rose,” the Doctor told her honestly.

 

“Thank you, Doctor.  Giving the tuxedo another go?” she asked.

 

“Well, it can’t go badly all the time, can it?” he hoped as he rubbed the back of his neck.  He begged whatever karma controlled the universe that they could have a peaceful evening tonight.

 

Rose smirked at him and questioned, “So, where are we?”

 

“We,” he began and pulled her arm around his as he led her toward the door.  “Are at the Grand Ball of the Thirteenth Queen of Pylar.  It’s a sort of coming of age ceremony for her.  There will be dinner and dancing and you, my beautiful human, will outshine them all.”

 

Rose gave him a gleaming smile at his praise.  Dinner and dancing?  It was a date!  An actual date with the Doctor!  She clutched his arm tightly as they exited the TARDIS and made their way up to the entrance of a large, brightly lit, palace.  He showed the door person his psychic paper and they were shown to a seat of honour as Sir Doctor of TARDIS and Dame Rose, apparently, the ambassadors of Earth.

 

The Doctor pulled out her chair for her before taking his seat and was the perfect gentleman through the entire meal.  He explained what all of the dishes were as each course was served and told her which items she would particularly like.  He was polite with the other people at their table.  It seemed he was willing to do almost anything to make their evening go as smoothly as possible, even though he grasped her hand a few times to tell her telepathically every time one of the others was completely wrong about something.  Normally, he would have started an argument right there, but held his tongue and just informed her silently (he still needed to be impressive after all).

 

When dinner was over, the Doctor led Rose through several dances before she informed him that she needed a break.  He took her out onto the balcony to get some fresh air and privacy.

 

“This is wonderful, Doctor.  Thank you so much for bringing me here.  After all that stuff in New York, I really needed this,” Rose told him, looking up at the starry sky overhead.

 

“I know.  Just remember when we said that the trouble is just the bits in between.  It’s not always horrible.  And when it is, we have each other,” he replied, taking her hand and threading their fingers together.  “Rose, I-” he began and reached into his pocket, but stopped when they heard a loud crash from the ballroom.  He growled in frustration as Rose rolled her eyes.

 

It didn’t take long to rescue the Queen from the assassin that tried to kidnap her, but they were both exhausted afterward and went straight back to the TARDIS rather than returning to the party.

 

“Doctor?” Rose asked.

 

“Yes, Rose?” 

 

“Would you, um, stay with me tonight?” she questioned shyly.

 

“I’d love to,” he answered and they walked to her room hand in hand.

 

He curled himself around her snugly, his arms around her waist as she nestled her back against his chest.  He purred quietly, lulling her to sleep, and joining her in pleasant dreams shortly after.

 

For days, the Doctor kept trying to land them somewhere peaceful and romantic, but everywhere they went, something always interrupted him.  Frustrated, he went to the gardens inside the TARDIS and stared at the simulated sky.  Nothing was going right in his plans.  The methods used on Liz Ten were not only unavailable to anyone that wasn’t royalty and painful, but most likely wouldn’t work on Rose’s altered physiology anyway.  Many of the other methods for extending human lives would be temporary, require transplants, or might leave her like Cassandra and he knew she wouldn’t want that.  Then there was the matter of The Question.  The timing was never right and he wanted it to be perfect.  Rose deserved perfect.

 

He was startled from his thoughts by Rose herself as she sat down next to him and gazed up at the sky as well.  “Penny for your thoughts,” Rose prompted and bumped his shoulder with hers playfully.

 

“Oh, they aren’t worth that much,” he replied, not really wanting to let her know how frustrated he was with finding a way to extend her life they way they were both dreaming of doing.

 

“I know that’s not true.  Taking a break from all these little dates you keep trying for?” she teased.  It was obvious that he was trying to be romantic and it was never his fault that things kept going wrong.  In fact, she loved that part of their lives.  Making a difference everywhere they went.

 

“Can’t fool you, can I?” he grumbled.

 

“I love it, Doctor.  It’s really sweet.  And I love the fact that even though things don’t go as planned, we don’t just leave before helping out.  It’s actually my favourite part, yeah?” she admitted.

 

He smiled at her warmly.  She really was made for this life.  And maybe the TARDIS was the right place for this?

 

“Rose, I’ve had something that I want to ask you.  Of course, things keep interrupting me.  I sincerely hope that isn’t a sign of some kind.  Well, I’m not generally superstitious, but if I were, then all of these interruptions could be taken as a sign that I shouldn’t talk to you about this.  Good thing neither of us is superstitious though, because this is very, very important and cannot be put off any longer,” he babbled nervously.

 

“Doctor, just spit it out, yeah?” she giggled.

 

He took a deep breath and stuck his hand into his pocket.  His fingers wrapped around the item that he’d had for a very long time now, even before he had changed if he was honest.  It wasn’t they way things were done on Gallifrey, but it was appropriate for Earth and he had researched very carefully how this was all supposed to go according to her culture.  He turned toward her and took her hand in his, fingering the little box in his pocket with the other hand, not sure when to take it out but deciding that he should ask her before she saw it.

 

“I can't give you kids, or counting down the years until retirement. I can't give you a day after day, normal, human life,” he told her.

 

“I know all that, Doctor,” she replied. “I’ve never wanted that.”

 

He nodded, happy with that answer. “What I can give you is the promise that you'll never be bored. We'll often have a different ground beneath our feet, and something new to see. Rose Marion Tyler, would you… I… umm,” he stuttered, finding that his respiratory bypass had failed along with everything else as he gazed into her chocolate eyes.  He cleared his throat and tried again, “Rose Marion Tyler, would you do me the honour of becoming my wife?”

 

Rose’s eyes went wide and her mouth dropped open in shock.


	23. Rose's Answer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's a bit more fluff, and a bit more smut.

 

 

Rose found the Doctor staring at the simulated sky in the garden room. They talked for a moment and Rose teased him. He then started babbling about signs and superstitions. Rose loved his babble sometimes, but she knew the words were at least partly nervous speaking.

"Doctor, just spit it out, yeah?" Rose said and giggled, trying to relieve the tension.

"I can't give you kids, or counting down the years until retirement. I can't give you a day after day, normal, human life," he told her.

She hoped he wasn't trying to pull back. She really hoped so.

"I know all that, Doctor," she replied. "I've never wanted that," she assured him. When the hell had she ever said she wanted that sort of thing? She didn't want that before she knew him, much less afterward.

"What I can give you is the promise that you'll never be bored. We'll often have a different ground beneath our feet, and something new to see." He said her name and started stuttering.

Rose started worrying. The Doctor's gob never failed him, but then he cleared his throat and spoke his next sentence clearly.

"Rose Marion Tyler, would you do me the honour of becoming my wife?"

Rose's eyes went wide and her mouth dropped open in shock. Did he just? Her heart started pounding in her chest. Was this a dream? They hadn't moved their relationship past friendship for very long. Of course, he was very impulsive, maybe he just thought that was what humans did?

"I... Doctor, are you sure about this?" she questioned, not wanting to get her hopes up too high if he was only doing this for her sake.

His nervous smile faded and he swallowed loudly. He looked as though she'd just stepped on one of his hearts. "I just need to know that you aren't doing this because you feel like you need to follow some silly human mating ritual thing or something, yeah?" she clarified quickly.

His face relaxed slightly, but he still seemed pained by her doubts. "Rose, in all of my lives, I have never wanted anything more than this," he responded, his voice sounding as though he might cry.

"Then yes, Doctor. Absolutely, yes," she assured him with a bright smile. His answering grin matched her own and he took the ring out of its box to slip onto her finger before pulling her into his arms tightly. He hummed against her neck happily and the vibration along with the feeling of his breath on her neck sent a welcome shiver down her spine.

The Doctor breathed in the scent of her deeply and chuckled. "Feeling a bit frisky, my beautiful fiancée?" he asked when he detected the sudden shift in her pheromones.

"That is so unfair!" Rose protested, knowing that he could sense so many things about her in ways she couldn't even imagine. She decided to retaliate the best way possible and started tickling him. He laughed openly and laid back in the grass, pulling her down with him.

"Well, knowing your mood at any given moment either by smelling your pheromones, using telepathy, or monitoring your breathing and heart rate, should give me enough of an advantage to keep you safe and happy most of the time," he countered.

Rose stopped her attack and rested on top of him, gazing into his eyes. She noted that he seemed a bit smug. He was also exceedingly happy, but then, so was she. "I suppose, there is that, my handsome, alien fiancé," she replied and kissed him lightly on the lips.

"Oi! You're alien to me, too you know. In fact, with all the changes to your physiology, you might be considered partially alien to just about everyone," he argued.

"Okay, so we're both unique in the universe then?" she acquiesced.

"I suppose we are," he agreed with a slight sadness at the knowledge that he was the last of his kind. It wasn't the deep sadness that used to come with those thoughts. He was just too overwhelmingly happy with Rose's answer to be sad at the moment.

"I wish it didn't have to be," Rose admitted, running her fingers down his sideburn. "But we can be unique together, yeah?"

"Oh, yes." He threaded his fingers into her hair and pulled her into a passionate kiss. They spent several minutes reveling in the taste of one another before hands started roaming and articles of clothing were tossed aside.

His hands roamed over her skin and she felt his mind embrace hers. Rose gasped at the overwhelming wave of joy and lust and, this time, along with that far reaching admiration and respect, she felt an echo of love. He was embracing the feelings that she had for him and allowing himself to feel them too. It was still a bit alien, still with that tinge of eternity that her own mind couldn't quite grasp, but she couldn't doubt the sincerity of the depth of his feelings for her.

The Doctor rolled them over so that he was on top of her and undid the last couple buttons of his Oxford. Rose was laid out underneath him, with him straddling one of her legs. Her bare chest rose and fell with her heavy breathing. He leaned down and kissed each nipple quickly, getting a laugh out of her, then moved up for a quick peck of the lips that turned into more. Rose pushed his shirt off of his shoulders and the Doctor shrugged it the rest of the way off before he turned to unfastening her jeans. He quickly removed the cloth from her legs, taking her knickers with the denim.

"Ooh, someone's eager," Rose teased, obviously approving.

"Mmmhmm," he agreed, running his tongue along the inside of her knee.

The Doctor quickly stripping her of the rest of her clothes had driven Rose wild. And what he was doing to her legs was driving her mad. He'd started licking and kissing her legs at her knee, and moved quickly up the inside of her thigh, parting her legs wider as he did so. His fringe brushed her skin as he moved up, adding another layer of delicious torture.

Then he did something she'd been fantasizing about for-she didn't even know how long: he parted her legs a bit more and ran his tongue up her slit. She gave a wordless cry and jumped at his touch. He chuckled and wrapped his hands around her thighs to hold her still.

Rose clutched at the soft blades of red grass in the garden's path in pleasure. Oh, she loved her Doctor, her fiancé, she thought with a giggle. Neither of her boyfriends had done this. The first was too selfish, and the second wouldn't do that. She was so close, just about to come when the Doctor stopped licking her and sat back on his knees. Rose let out a groan, and the Doctor just stared at her darkly as he undid the button on his trousers.

"I was going to bring you over like that," he said in a low voice. "But you thought about...them." He stripped his trousers and pants off quickly, laid down next to her, and pulled her up so that she was on top of him. "I'm gonna make you forget you were ever with anyone else," he bragged.

"Oh, is that so?" she asked. "And just how are you gonna do that?" she teased. He grinned and bucked his hips in answer.

She gazed into his beaming face, surrounded by the red grass that grew in the TARDIS garden. Rose positioned him at her entrance and sank down, the little bumps of his erection massaging her insides deliciously. She groaned and gasped as he filled her completely, and then some. He took hold of her hips and guided her rocking motions to fit with his own, but letting her set the pace that she wanted. His mind caressed hers and sent tingles down her spine. She was close now, so very close, and the Doctor could feel it. He pressed his thumb against her clit firmly and rubbed small circles as his fiancée squealed with delight.

True to his words, she forgot. She forgot everything but the Doctor and how he felt inside of her, both her mind and her body. She clutched him to her desperately when she came.

When she collapsed against him, shuddering with aftershocks, he rolled them over on the grass so that she was beneath him again. He kept his movements slow and gentle as she came back down from her crest, just enough to let her know that he wasn't finished with her yet, but not so much that it was uncomfortable for her. When her muscles stopped quivering, she met his eyes again. They were filled with awe at watching her come undone in his arms and she smiled at him, caressing his mind with her own as she moved her hips to let him know she was ready to continue.

The Doctor sighed, finally able to give into his need to take her more forcefully, to mark her as his now that she had agreed to become his wife. He sucked on her neck hard enough to leave a reddish-purple bruise and thrust into her faster and harder than he ever had before. She cried out, but he could feel from her mind that it was in surprise rather than pain. He could never hurt her. They'd made love before, but it had always been playful and sweet, whereas this was hard and sweaty. Of course, he couldn't be the one sweating at mere physical exertion, so he just breathed deeply of his mate's heady pheromones and came inside of her with a loud shout of her name in his native language.

They laid together in the red grass, breathing heavily, snuggled together. He hummed happily when Rose rested her head on his shoulder and kissed her hair. After several long minutes, she asked him, "What does that mean? The word you said? Ark-something? Arkeeshur?"

He chuckled a bit at her attempt to pronounce the Gallifreyan word. Would she want to learn some of his language, he wondered. Probably. Always curious, his Rose. "Arkytior. It means Rose in Gallifreyan," he explained and squeezed her tightly.

"Oh. I thought maybe it was saying I love you, or mine, or something," she teased, earning herself a tickle in her side. "It's pretty though. Prettier sounding than Rose."

"Rose Tyler, your name is absolutely gorgeous. My brain just shorted out for a moment and I reverted to my native tongue," he assured her with a smile.

"Speaking of your tongue," she said with a wicked grin and kissed him deeply.

It was two and a half hours later before the feeling of him began to fade from her mind when they weren't touching.

XxXxXxXx

The next few weeks passed by in a whirlwind. They laughed and ran. They got captured and escaped. They annoyed the wrong people and were sentenced to death once for "indecent happenings."

On one of their trips, they wound up crossing paths with people from a museum who would remove the last member of species from their time and preserve them. Unfortunately, they wanted the Doctor and weren't going to wait. The trip was hard on him, and Rose held him for a while afterwards, just being there for him.

"If I could, I'd make myself to be like you," she told him, "then you wouldn't have to be alone." He pulled back and stared at her a moment before he kissed her and started removing her clothes.

On another trip, they'd been about to go to see the Beatles in concert when the console beeped with a distress signal. Turned out a cargo ship was using an illegal power source and had scooped material from a living sun. People had been possessed by it and were killing the other members of the crew.

Rose had almost gotten trapped in an escape pod by one of them. She had managed to escape back towards the Doctor at the last second. She was glad she didn't get trapped, the guy who was helping her get through the doors had fallen into the sun. An older woman had to help her finish opening the doors.

Rose had said something about the people burning and the sun, she didn't even remember what she said. Apparently, it helped something click in the Doctor's head, because he'd realized that it was the sun possessing the people. They had gotten the fuel that had been taken from the sun dumped back where it belonged and saved the ship and the remaining crew members, one man, and the older woman who'd helped.

After that, both of them had had enough heat for a while and went to a Winter festival in the Whirlpool Galaxy. They'd thrown snowballs at one another and had a great time.

They finally went to the Beatles concert they'd originally planned to go to.

There was a ball they landed at during one of the trips where they hit the random settings where there was a hostage situation and the Doctor and Rose talked the hostage takers down.

They went to see Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs, but the Doctor got a bit jittery when they played "Little Red Riding Hood." Rose told him to relax, that she was about ninety-nine percent sure she had nothing to do with it. They'd had a lovely evening.

It was while they were ice skating on Luriel when it happened. The Doctor was gliding around effortlessly, while Rose was having a hard time moving forward and staying upright at the same time. He had taken her hands and was pulling her along when they both heard it, like a whisper in the air, though the voices were more telepathic than actually heard.

" _Do you smell that, Mother of Mine?"_ one voice asked.

" _Time Lord,"_ another one hissed.

" _We shall live forever, Daughter of Mine"_ a third one claimed.

The Doctor immediately took Rose's hand and they moved as fast as they could back to the TARDIS, but the beings were faster and had almost caught them. The Doctor and Rose ran into the time ship with green lasers beams flying past them. A few had hit the inside before they could get the doors closed.

"Did they see your face?" the Doctor asked Rose desperately.


	24. Human Nature Part 1

And now, we have the Human Nature arc. We're pretty much tossing the script out here :D Enjoy!

XxXxXxXx

The Doctor and Rose both ran into the TARDIS as fast as they could.

"Get down!" the Doctor shouted as they ducked the blast from an energy weapon before he could get the door shut. "Did they see you?!" he questioned frantically, grasping Rose's upper arms firmly and looking her over for any injuries.

"I don't think so," Rose replied nervously.

"You need to be sure, did they see your face?" he insisted.

"I didn't look back. I don't see how they could have," she answered.

"Right then, off we go!" he told her with a relieved smile and set the TARDIS controls to get them as far away from those creatures as possible. The console buzzed angrily and he ran to check what the problem was. "Argh! They're following us," he cursed.

"How are they doing that?" Rose questioned worriedly, hitting a few controls as the TARDIS prompted her.

"Stolen technology. They've got a vortex manipulator, like Jack's. They can follow us wherever we go, right across the universe. They're never going to stop, unless. I'll have to do it. Rose, you trust me, don't you?" he pressed.

"How can you even ask that? With my life, you know that," she told him.

"Because it all depends on you," the Doctor explained, looking into her eyes to express just how much faith he had in her abilities.

"What depends on me?" Rose questioned.

The Doctor held out a watch. Rose didn't know where he got it from, but a stray thought crossed her mind that it was beautiful. "Take this watch, because my life depends on it. This watch, Rose. The watch is me." He slammed it down in her hand and turned around, obviously not volunteering any more details.

"Huh?" Rose wondered. "How the hell can a watch be you, and what are you doing?" The Doctor was at the console, pressing buttons.

"Those creatures are hunters. They can sniff out anyone, and me being a Time Lord, well, I'm unique. They can track me down across the whole of time and space," he explained.

"Could they smell me too? 'Cause I'm unique too, yeah?" she questioned.

"No, Rose. I'm sure you'll be fine. Besides, they're after my regeneration energy. You don't have that, so there's no reason for them to be after you, other than your association with me. But you'd probably smell mostly human. They can smell me, they haven't seen me. And their life span'll be running out, so we hide. Wait for them to die," he assured her.

"How do we hide if they can smell you and track you down from anywhen?" Rose asked worriedly.

"That's why I've got to do it. I have to stop being a Time Lord. I'm going to become human," he spoke distractedly, as if he were talking about finding a spanner.

"Hold on," Rose said, shocked. "You can do that?"

"Yeah," he replied as he looked up. Rose followed his gaze and saw a metal contraption being lowered from the ceiling of the TARDIS. It looked like some weird medical device to hold a person's head still.

"Never thought I'd use this. All the times I've wondered…" the Doctor trailed off as the contraption came to a stop.

"What's it do?" Rose asked.

"Chameleon Arch. Rewrites my biology. Literally changes every single cell in my body. I've set it to human," he told her as he clicked a watch into place.

"Hold on, why've you wondered about this, and why do you even have it?"

The Doctor stopped what he was doing for a moment and stared at her. "Why do you think?" he asked softly.

"Oh," Rose responded, getting it. "You-you?" she couldn't get it out, so she followed a different line of thought and asked, "But you said their lifespan is running out. Couldn't we, I don't know, just stop them somehow?"

"I have to give them a chance, Rose. You know that," he argued.

"What if we got the Vortex manipulator away from them?" she wondered.

"I'm not willing to risk your life on trying. These creatures are extremely dangerous. This will work. You said that you trusted me, please. Three months, maximum," he insisted.

Rose was afraid, but she trusted him and nodded in assent.

"Good. Now, the Tardis will take care of everything. Invent a life story for us, find a setting and integrate us. It'll change my memories, but not yours. You'll just have to improvise. My new memories should include you in my life, my precious girl," he told her and kissed her deeply.

"Will it hurt as much as when you regenerated? You're changing all your cells like that, it can't be easy," she wondered when he pulled away.

"Oh, yeah. It hurts," he answered regretfully.

"Can I, dunno, hold your hand or something?" she wondered, trying to think of how she might be able to help him through it. She couldn't touch him at all when he regenerated.

"No," he told her. "You can't touch me and you can't stop the process part way. No matter what, it needs to complete. I'll be unconscious for a bit afterward, but just let me come to on my own and I'll leave the TARDIS myself," he instructed.

Rose nodded, but couldn't find words to express what was going through her head at the moment. This was all happening so quickly and she could barely wrap her mind around the events. Her fiancé wouldn't remember their life for the next three months?

"You should go get packed," he told her. "The TARDIS will take care of a bag for me, and will point you to the right period clothing. I'll get this ready.".

"You'll wait for me to come back before you turn that thing on, yeah? I want to at least be here for you," she questioned timidly. This whole thing was terrifying.

The Doctor just looked at her for a moment, and she could see the apology in his eyes. She knew he didn't want her to see what was about to happen, but there was no way she was going to be elsewhere while he was going through that.

"Yeah, I'll wait," he answered with a sigh.

"I love you, Doctor," she made sure to tell him before she even left the room. Just in case he didn't wait. She couldn't bear to spend the next three months without having told him before this all happened. "You'll still be you, right? Like when you regenerated?"

"Yes and no," he told her. "The person I'll become will be a slice of who I am. I won't be able to remember things about my life before, and a Time Lord is the sum of their memories. It's not cheating on me, if that's what you're worried about," he teased, trying to lighten the mood a little.

"But, you won't be you?" she asked, not feeling any better about it.

"I'll still be me, just-less so? Yeah, that's as good of a description as any. I'll be myself, but a bit less of myself."

Sighing in exasperation at his less than helpful response, Rose trudged off to the wardrobe room to get the bags that the TARDIS would help her prepare for them. She sincerely hoped that he kept his word and waited for her before he used the stupid thing.

As she walked, she pondered what he had told her. What would her life with him be like? What kind of memories would he suddenly have that she'd have to pretend to agree with? He told her that it wouldn't be cheating on him for them to be together. He'd still sort of be himself. This was so strange. Would the TARDIS send them to the past or the future? The Old Girl wouldn't separate them now that their relationship had moved forward. They knew that she wanted them together just as much as they had wanted each other. She decided that she'd have to ask the TARDIS for a bit of a heads up on what to expect from his memories and the life that she set up for them.

She stepped into the wardrobe and saw two bags lying there on the floor, open and waiting. Then the lights dimmed, except for over one section. Taking the rather large hint, she took the bags in hand and walked over to the lit up area.

It was all simple clothing, male and female, that could be worn in most times after her time. Denims and t-shirts, jackets and gloves. Stuff Rose would be comfortable in. Rose noticed a distinct lack of suits in the section she was in, and wondered what the Doctor would look like dressed casually.

She stuffed his bag full of any clothing he could need, including socks, shoes, underthings, etc. There seemed to be a handy pocket for each type of item that was just the right size. The TARDIS was very neat and fairly organized when she wanted to be. Rose also did the same for herself, stuffing whatever she thought she needed inside the large bag.

When she was finished with that, she was led to another spot, which had jewelry and accessories. Right in front, where it couldn't be missed, with extra light on it for good measure, there was an open box, which held a pair of rings. They looked a lot like the rings they'd worn when they went undercover in the hospital, but weren't the same ones. Rose took it and a few simple pieces of jewelry she liked, hefted the bags, which weren't nearly as heavy as she thought they should be, and left the wardrobe.

She was led to, of all places, the medbay, where a white box sat out in the open. She almost just scooped it up, but curiosity had her opening it. Inside, there was a syringe, fully loaded. She looked at the piece of paper inside, and learned that it was birth control.

Right. There were rings, they'd be married, or he'd think they were anyway. He'd want to do the things married people do. He'd be human and therefore not sterile. " _It's not cheating on me, if that's what you're worried about." "I'll be me, but less so."_

She followed the instructions on the package and thanked the ship. She hadn't given thought to that, what with so much going on.

When Rose returned to the console room, the Doctor hit a few keys on the keyboard and turned to face her. "I've recorded a few instructions, just in case. Stuff to remember about the hunters and what to do in certain situations, but you know most of this stuff already. It's like you were tailor made for this life of ours, Rose," he informed her and walked over to the Chameleon Arch. "Remember that you can't touch me until it's over and you can't stop it part way."

Rose nodded and put the bags down, wringing her hands together nervously as she watched him. They still had a slight telepathic link and she could tell that he was as frightened of all this as she was.

"Come here," he told her with a sigh. If this was it for three months, he needed a bit of a goodbye. She threw herself into his arms and they hugged tightly, breathing in the scent of the other and allowing their minds to link again. He wouldn't be able to do that when he was human and Rose knew that she would miss having that connection with him.

"I love you so much, my Doctor," she told him again.

The Doctor said something then that the TARDIS didn't translate. It sounded like Gallifreyan again. Whatever it was, it ended with Arkytior, which she recognized as her name in his native tongue.

"What's it mean?" she asked as he released her from his arms and urged her to stand back.

"Tell you later," he said with a wink and pulled the contraption down over his head.

The part that held the watch sat directly over his forehead, several heavy cables running back up into the ceiling of their time ship. Rose laced her fingers together tightly, nervously trying to keep herself from reaching for him. The Doctor pressed a button on the Arch and flinched painfully as the process began. Rose could still feel him slightly in her mind and gasped as his connection to her was ripped away harshly.

His teeth clenched and his breathing became rapid almost instantly. It wasn't long before the screaming started and Rose knew that she would have nightmares about this moment for years to come. The sight of her Doctor in so much pain with nothing she could do to help was agonizing. After what felt like an eternity, he was silent and collapsed on the floor. The watch popped loose from where it had been held and Rose grabbed it. He had told her that the watch would be him and she wouldn't let anything happen to it. As she held it in her hand, she felt the faint brush of his mind against hers with a whisper of her name. She tucked the watch safely in her pocket and knelt down to check on the Doctor.

Pressing her fingers to his neck, she felt the pulse of a single heartbeat. His skin was warm and slightly sweaty from the exertion he had gone through. He told her to let him wake up on his own, so she moved to the monitor screen for a moment. "Can you show me what the story is? What kind of memories you gave him?" she asked the ship aloud.

On the screen, several key facts started to scroll by. They'd be in the 51st century, which she thought was an odd coincidence, since she remembered that was the time that Jack came from. The Doctor would be an ex-Time Agent, that was starting his own repair shop for space ships and stuff.

She was still from the 21st century, and their meeting was essentially the same: he'd saved her life and they kept running into each other. He'd wound up bringing her to the future after her mother and friend passed away in an accident. Rose had been in it too, but she escaped with only a few breaks.

She'd gone to work for the Time Agency as a 20th and 21st century expert. People who were being sent to that time were sent to her first. Oh, boy, she did not want to be there, not after knowing what they'd done to Jack.

Then came the explanation for the rings. They were married. Newlyweds, John and Rose Smith. It wasn't a big stretch, they were engaged after all. But it was a bit of a lie. Well, what was one more lie on top of all the rest of this mess? With a sigh, she slipped the wedding ring onto her finger, next to her engagement ring and knelt down to put the other one on his hand.

"Allons-y," she sighed, trying to bolster her own confidence.

The monitor screen came back on, but with a familiar face on it. The Doctor sat in the jumpseat and tapped the screen.

"This working? Rose, before I change, here's a list of instructions for when I'm human. One, don't let me hurt anyone. We can't have that, but you know what humans are like. Two, don't worry about the TARDIS. I'll put it on emergency power so they can't detect it. Just let it hide away. Four. No, wait a minute, three. No getting involved in big historical events. I know we sometimes have a habit of messing that up, but, you know, don't. Four, you. Don't let me hurt you, which really should have been one. I don't know how I'll be, or who you'll be to me, and I might be a bit of an idiot at times. Sorry for anything that I might do as a human in advance. Really, please Rose, don't leave me during this mess. And five, don't let me eat pears. You know how much I hate those disgusting things, Rose. But I might not remember that and I don't want to wake up in three months and taste that! Six, in three months, if they haven't found us, you can open the watch and everything will be perfect. Seven, I know our lives are never perfect. So, if anything goes wrong and you need my help, then open the watch. Don't open it unless you have to, because once it's open, they'll be able to find me. There's a perception filter on it, so I shouldn't notice it really. You know how that works. Now, I could go on forever, but you're no novice to this life, Rose. I trust you."

The screen turned off and Rose looked over at the man lying on the floor, the unknown man who thought they had married already. Her human husband, John Smith.

She'd never been more uncertain of anything.


	25. Human Nature Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Neither of us really liked the Human Nature arc as it was on the telly.
> 
> TheDoctorMulder had a problem with them being stuck in that time period out of all the possibilities, and the fact that the story was ripped from the 7th Doctor novel "Human Nature," which brings into question the "canonicity" of the books, if Doctor Who can really be considered to have a canon when time can be rewritten.
> 
> "Hawkerin hated some of the characters. Not telling who, that could get messy.

  
The Doctor awoke in a bit of a trance and walked silently out of the ship. Rose picked up their bags and followed him quickly, not wanting to leave him alone anywhere in such a state. The TARDIS was parked in a back alley, similar to the way he often parked the ship and she followed him out onto the street. Suddenly, he whirled around to face her with a bright smile.

"Isn't it fantastic, Love?" he shouted happily.

"Uh, yeah," she responded quickly, shaken by his change in behaviour already. He'd never called her 'Love' before; never even used the word other than to say that it wasn't good enough. "Do you know where we're headed?" she asked, knowing that the TARDIS had arranged for their flat and his shop already.

"Yup! This way. Oh, let me carry those, Sweetheart," he added as he grabbed the bags and led her down the street another block to their destination.

Rose ran after him, flustered by the change in his demeanour. Yes, he had always been as energetic, excitable, and even affectionate, but the open endearments were very human and out of character for her Doctor. It was just a reminder that this wasn't exactly her Doctor. This was her human husband, John Smith.

John babbled as they walked down the street, pointing out things and telling stories they reminded him of, whether or not the story had anything to do with what he'd actually pointed out or not. This was a reminder that the man she walked next to wasn't a stranger, either, he was still the Doctor. This was the Doctor as a human.

It gave her a headache, but if she could handle a regeneration, she could handle this. It was sort of like a regeneration, but he looked the same and had a bit of amnesia. The Doctor said that amnesia happened sometimes with regeneration.

Their flat was above the shop where he would be repairing spaceships and other equipment. The sign had been put up over the doors, Bad Wolf Repairs, but the windows were dark to show that it hadn't opened for business yet.

 _That was deliberate_ , she thought to the TARDIS. She received a feeling of smugness from the sentient timeship.

He skipped the shop for the time being and went straight up to their flat. The door opened with a touch from either of them automatically.

The flat was small, but functional for the two of them. They had visited similar time periods often enough that she wouldn't have too much trouble using the technology. The backstory of her life being approximately the same would be enough of an excuse if there was anything new to her.

"This is nice. Bit smaller than we're used to, but should do for now, eh?" he commented as he bounced around, examining the details of their temporary home. "Won't be long until I get business going well enough that you won't even have to keep taking work from the Time Agency for cash," he added.

"Do I have to go report to anyone or something?" she asked, not recalling any details of her work being given to her by the TARDIS.

"No, don't you remember? They'll just send people to you at the shop if they need information from your time. Means you can help me in the office. You never know when we might need to play secretary," he teased seductively. He hugged her from behind suddenly, kissed her neck, and pressed against her backside suggestively.

Rose gasped in surprise. He had never been quite so openly randy around her before. She couldn't help but wonder if the changes to his physiology to human had also affected his external anatomy. She had come to rather like those little bumps.

Rose didn't have to wonder for long because he was unzipping her jeans and plunging his warm hand down the front of them. She soon found herself half naked on their sofa with a very much familiar, not-so-human feeling erection pressing into her. She groaned and wrapped her legs around his waist. Maybe the next three months wouldn't be so bad after all.

#########

Rose put their clothing away and went searching for the Doctor. No, he was John now, she had to remember that. She found him in the shop, surrounded by boxes full of tools. He was turned away from her and bent over, and she took a moment to stare at his bum. He had changed into jeans and a t-shirt after their little romp upstairs and it was a style that she wasn't used to with this version of the Doctor. She certainly wasn't complaining though, the look on him was delicious.

"Hey, there you are!" she said, making her presence known.

John jumped and looked over at her. "Hey! All done?" he asked.

"For now," she replied.

He took in the mess around him, grimaced, and asked, "Hungry?"

"Starved," Rose answered.

"Let's go find some place to get a bite." He stepped over a couple of open boxes and took her arm. They walked from the shop into a little place next door that had a Chinese vibe to it.

"Welcome to the Emerald Serpent," greeted a man when they walked in. He was about forty-five years old, or Rose would say so from the standards of her time, with thick, dark, unruly hair and brilliantly green eyes. "Please sit anywhere you care to."

Rose and John sat at the bar, in chairs that would spin. When John realized this, he spun around in a circle once before Rose stopped him. "Spoilsport," he accused, putting on a mock pout.

The older man who'd greeted them handed them a pair of menus. "I'm Marcus," he greeted. "I've not seen the two of you around here before."

"Ah, we're new here," John replied. "Just about to open the little repair shop next door."

Marcus welcomed them to the neighbourhood and told them that the special was a steak and cheese sandwich.

"Steak and cheese sandwich. That doesn't seem very Chinese," Rose whispered to John when Marcus left to see to other customers.

"It's not," he agreed. "This is all just decorations."

"Ah," she replied and opened her menu. She then closed it, looked at the front and back, and opened it again. It had moving pictures on it. John chuckled beside her.

"You use it like a touch screen," he whispered to her, then swiped at his own menu to show her.

"Why not just have a regular menu?" she grumbled.

"Because it's much much easier to change the menu when you don't have to order all new ones printed every time you decide to add something or take it away," he explained.

Rose swiped at the menu, looking at the various items. She chose fish and chips, something at least a little familiar. John chose a soup and sandwich combo that Rose had never heard of.

######

Over the next few days, Rose and John settled into a routine of sorts. John finally got his shop in order and opened for customers. Rose wondered just how ordered the shop would stay once in use. He'd already had the bathroom in a whole new "order" that was anything but.

Rose's first consult for the Time Agency was about clothing for someone going to the US in her time, but during her childhood. She'd also had to correct the poor woman, who thought that Cher really did sound choppy like that.

During the first week, Rose consulted on three more trips to the century she was born in. When she questioned John about it, he explained that the time she was from was of special interest. It was a time when Earth was advancing quickly in technology, but before they sent people to the next planet over and before alien kind had become widely known.

"The twenty-first century was when everything changed," he explained.

Rose was learning how to be a secretary as well. She didn't like it one bit, but she was helping John get his business off the ground. It didn't matter that he would only be in business for three months, she still gave it her all.

No matter where she was or what she was doing, she kept the watch that held the rest of the Doctor with her. She didn't trust such an important object to be out of her sight, and even if she did have a spot where she thought it was safe, she wouldn't be able to feel the Doctor. Breaking their bond was painful, and Doctor-in-the-Watch helped.

John continued being openly affectionate, and Rose was really enjoying that. As the Doctor, he was affectionate, hugging her, holding her hand, kissing her, and telling her how smart she was. As John, he'd wrap his arms around her any chance he could get and nuzzle her. He'd call her endearments and constantly tell her she was beautiful.

The first night after the Chameleon Arch was used, they went to bed and he started kissing her, unbuttoning her pajama shirt. She reciprocated happily, but then he did something that shocked her.

"I love you, Rose," he murmured as he undid the last button. She gasped in shock, but on second thought, it shouldn't have been too shocking. She grabbed him and brought her lips to his with everything she had, taking control and losing herself in the moment.

She'd started having lunch at the place they'd had dinner the first night. She was becoming good friends with the owner, Marcus. His wife had started the restaurant, but had died two years previously.

"Oh, Rose, I had wondered if I was going to see you today. Saw one of those Time Agents show up earlier," Marcus greeted when she came in one day. The restaurant was empty at the time and he had the time to talk with her.

"Oh, that one didn't take long. She just needed to be sure that she could blend in," she told him.

"I thought about working for the Agency once," he commented, wiping down a table.

"Why didn't you?" she wondered.

"I met my Elaine," he replied, with a sad, but fond look on his face.

"Tell me about her?" Rose asked. And he did.

##########

Rose was finally getting the hang of taking appointments and figuring out the different systems for the computer. It was nothing like answering the phone and using a calendar, but it seemed like several centuries in, they'd finally gotten that "paperless" plan to work.

They were almost at the end of business hours, so Rose wandered into John's work area to see what he was up to. His legs were sticking out from under a vaguely familiar ship.

"What kind of ship is that, John?" she asked curiously.

"It's Chula," he replied loudly from beneath the vehicle and Rose's heart thudded quicker. She gasped when a very familiar face popped out of the door to greet her.

"Well, hello! Jack Harrison," he introduced himself with a million dollar smile and offered his hand.

Rose's eyes went as wide as saucers and she was glad that John couldn't see her face. It was Jack. Jack Harkness. Well, he was using a slightly different name, but she remembered him telling her once that he used a lot of different names along the way. She tried to get a sense for whether he knew her or not, but his face wasn't showing any signs of recognition, just his usual flirtatiousness.

"Pleasure," she squeaked and shook his hand stiffly.

"What is a lovely creature like you doing in a greasy place like this?" he asked.

"Oi! That's my wife you're flirting with there, Jack! Keep that up and I might have to charge you double," John said teasingly as he crawled out and put his arm over Rose's shoulders. Jack looked him over deliberately and grinned.

"What kind of work does it need?" she wondered, trying to make normal sounding conversation while calming herself. John would sense something was wrong otherwise and start asking about it.

"I'm hoping to discreetly hook my vortex manipulator into the navigation system," Jack answered. "Need a couple of parts to weld the systems together."

"You're a Time Agent?" she asked, trying to see where he was in his timeline.

"Yeah. Although, I'm not sure for how much longer," he told her with a sigh.

"Why's that then?"

"Corruption in the system," he replied with a shrug.

"Ugh, I know. If we didn't need the money, I wouldn't let them anywhere near Rose. At least they aren't making her travel the way they did for me," John told him.

"You used to be an Agent too?" Jack asked curiously.

"Used to. That's how I met Rose," he said with a grin. "This absolutely gorgeous, pure blooded human is from the 21st century." He hugged her tightly and kissed her cheek.

"And you brought her here?" Jack exclaimed. "You were allowed to bring her here?"

"Her parents and closest friends are dead. We fell in love. What else was I to do?" John told him.

"Hmm. Suppose you're right," Jack responded and the look in his eyes shifted to something that Rose recognized as suspicion from him. If she hadn't known him so well, she wouldn't have seen it, but they had grown close when he was travelling with them. She didn't know exactly what happened to Jack after the Game Station and she couldn't ask the Doctor right now, but she vowed that she would find out as soon as all of this was over. "Join me for a drink sometime?" he suggested.

"We'd love to," John answered and Rose just smiled.

With a friendly nod, Jack was gone from the shop.

"So, what was that about, then?" John asked her and she knew that she hadn't hidden her surprise at seeing Jack quite as well as she thought.


	26. Human Nature Part 3

"Jack... Well, Jack looked familiar to me is all. Do you recognize him?" she asked, flustered by the sudden interrogation.

"Don't think so, but he is a Time Agent. I suppose we might have bumped into him before. There's something else though," he said thoughtfully as he looked at her. "He's rather pretty, don't you think?"

Rose just about gave herself away at the surprise of hearing the familiar description of their friend. "He... he... What?!" she gasped.

John smirked at her, thinking he'd caught her. "It's alright, you know. You and your 21st century concepts of sexuality. We could ask him to join us sometime," he told her, suggestively waggling his eyebrows.

Rose's mouth dropped open in shock. Sure, she'd heard Jack talking like that all the time, the Doctor had said that it was just the way things were in the era he came from. It made sense then, that the persona he was given here would match that mentality, but she knew that the Doctor when he was himself would never want to share her with Jack, or anyone else for that matter. The glares that his previous incarnation had thrown at every pretty boy to come near her made that quite apparent.

"But, Do- But, John, we're married," she protested.

"Which means that we will always be together and we are secure enough in our love for each other to have some extra fun. Even if we did invite a friend to join us, there'd be no need for jealousy. The two of us are solidly together. We were together before, we'll be together afterwards, and they're just visiting. I know it was unusual for people in your time, but if you like him, it wouldn't bother me," he explained.

"I-I," she started. "No. I don't think I'm ready for anything like that, John," she replied, knowing that he would never suggest anything like it if he were himself.

"Well, we don't know him all that well yet. You never know, down the road. Just remember, Rose, nothing will come between us. You are my soulmate, my Rose," he told her as he gazed lovingly into her eyes. The sincerity of the statement made her breath hitch. Soulmate. It had been something that she had felt for him even before they had finally given into their feelings. That feeling that they belonged together; they fit perfectly like no one else ever could.

A feeling strong enough that, even when most of the Doctor was hidden away, it still held.

"I love you," she choked out and wrapped her arms around his neck. He kissed her roughly and picked her up to carry her back to her desk. He sat her down on top of it and dove under her skirt. Shoving her knickers to the side, his mouth latched onto her sweet spot and she nearly tumbled back into her computer screen.

#############

Rose saw Jack pop in and out of the shop a few times over the following weeks, but he never voiced anything about his suspicions to her. He just kept up his usual disarming flirtatious behaviour that she was used to and would never work with her. Jack was like a brother to her and they'd never be like that, no matter what John kept suggesting. At first, she had worried that John might do something with Jack despite her reservations, but he assured her that if anyone else were to be involved, it would be a decision that they made together and anything would include both of them. He wouldn't cheat on her.

Life here was fairly easy. She had made friends with the other business owners easily, often talking with Marcus next door when she got lunch for herself and John. Life was simple: wake up, work, eat, see friends, go to sleep. Intersperse sex throughout that.

Rose was glad that, as a human, John didn't have nearly the same stamina that he did as the Doctor, because she'd be properly sore. John thought they'd just come off of their honeymoon, and he was rearing to go often.

It was a pretty good life. A much better life than she'd have ever had if a certain alien hadn't blown up her job. It was a bit boring compared to the life she was used to, though. She was anxious to get back to running through time and space the way they used to.

XxXxXxXx

Jack came in one day, looking a bit tired. Rose came back into her office from picking up lunch for John and herself when she saw him sitting behind her desk, making himself at home.

"You know, Jack, if you want lunch too you're gonna have to get it yourself," she told him as she opened the first container. Jack darted his hand out and grabbed a chip from the plate, and she smacked at his hand, but wasn't fast enough to save her food.

"Mmmm, good," Jack said through a mouthful of potato.

Just then, John came in, holding a part Rose didn't recognize and looked over at Rose. "Ooh, it's here," he said enthusiastically and plucked a noodle out of the other box before she could stop him. She smacked his forearm with her fork and told him to go wash his hands.

"Roossee, they're just gonna get dirty again," he whined.

"Yeah, but if you think I'm gonna let you kiss me with traces of, whatever that is, in your mouth, you'd better think again," she warned.

"Multi-grade anti-oil. If it moves, it doesn't," John said proudly, holding up the part. "So, Jack, back from that job?" he asked.

"Obviously," he replied, sneaking another chip.

"What job?" Rose wondered.

"Oh, they've found the Madame De Pompadour," John replied.

"Ship's been missing for a year and a half," Jack added. "Funny thing is, we got there, and not only is all of the crew gone, with the escape pods still intact, but all of the repair droids are missing too. Turned out that the repair droids were using people parts to repair-"

"Maybe this isn't a discussion we should be having over food," Rose interrupted, feeling sick. She knew exactly what they found.

"Nah, it really isn't, "Jack agreed.

"The Madame de Pompadour," John said. "You know, I recall reading about the woman. Brilliant, she was. Fantastic gardener, and great at-"

Rose handed him a pear from the fruit basket that one of their neighbours sent as a gift for John after fixing up her son's hover toy.

"Here, Sweetheart. You're not getting enough fruits in your diet," she said, interrupting his tirade about Bloody Madame De Pompous Cow.

John took a big bite and Rose grinned evilly.

XxXxXxXx

Rose was day dreaming about one of their trips to a planet that she couldn't remember the name of. The sand on the beaches was turquoise and she and the Doctor had spent hours chasing each other through the waves. She was startled out of her thoughts by Jack staring at her as he stood in front of her desk.

"Jack! Oh, you startled me. What can I do for you?" she asked.

"You can tell me who you two really are," he demanded, all of his usual friendliness gone. "I did some checking, and while you do work for the Agency as a consultant, the records about him having been an agent were faked. Faked very well, but not well enough for an expert."

Rose sighed. "That's because he was never an agent."

"Then who is he?" Jack wondered.

"Honestly, I want to tell you Jack. More than you could ever know, but I don't think I can," she admitted regretfully.

"You know me, don't you?" he deduced.

"Look, it's more complicated than even that. If I tell you, you can't say anything about it to John. Can you promise me that, Jack?" she insisted.

"You're keeping it from your husband?" Jack responded worriedly.

"Yes and no. Like I said, it's complicated. We're hiding and he doesn't remember who he really is," she told him after checking to make sure that John was on the other side of the shop and wouldn't overhear their conversation. He was currently working on an old clunker of a ship that he wasn't sure would ever run again and cursed loudly as something sparked and black smoke started to pour from the panel he had been poking into.

"Hiding? From who? Are you two in trouble?" Jack asked her, suddenly concerned where he had been accusing before.

"He said they were hunters and they want his life force. They could smell his species across the universe and they were following our ship with a stolen vortex manipulator. He used a device of some kind that changed him into a human and locked his memories away inside this pocket watch thing. He said they'd die in three months at most and then, I could open the watch and we'd be fine," Rose explained.

"That doesn't explain how you know me. I could tell from your expression when you saw me. I've met people out of order before," he prompted.

"He doesn't remember, but we both know you, Jack. You and I were really close when you travelled with us. There was a really dangerous battle and I don't remember how it ended and he was really sick afterward. You weren't with us after and when I asked about you, he just said you were busy and deflected. Things were so shaky between us then, I was afraid to force the matter, but I'm going to find you again when this is all over, Jack," she promised.

"Did I give any indications that I knew you? Or do I have to pretend?" he asked her.

This was going to be difficult. "You didn't remember. When we met, you told me that the Time Agency had erased two years of your memories," she informed him, then grimaced. She shouldn't have told him that. It'd mess with timelines! But then again, the knowledge that it was coming could have been the reason it happened. She really didn't know which version she felt worse about.

"Two years?!" Jack nearly shouted, but caught himself before John could hear. They both glanced back toward where he was working and saw that he was still buried obliviously in ship parts.

"I promise, Jack, I'll find you. Is there something you can tell me or give me to let your future self know why they might do something like that?" Rose questioned.

"I've been digging. You and John seem to know there's corruption in the Agency. I have a list of the people involved. It's taken me a couple of years, so they probably found out. To be honest, I thought you might have been one of their spies. That's why I was so suspicious of you when I confronted you today," he told her.

"Well, it's something. You didn't know if you had committed some kind of dangerous crime when we met, but I trusted you right away. Caught me falling out of the sky during the Blitz." She smirked at the memory. "Wonder if the Doctor could help unlock the memories for you now that we know what to look for?" she added.

"The Doctor?" Jack asked.

Rose peeked at the cursing man in the back of the shop to make sure he was still occupied. "That's his real name. John Smith is a bit obvious isn't it?" she said with a laugh.

"Among Time Agents, it's pretty normal actually. But what species is he normally that he could be sniffed out by alien hunters and is named something as odd as 'the Doctor'?" Jack wondered.

"He's a Time Lord. The last of the Time Lords," she told him seriously.

"Time Lords? They're a myth, Rose, you can't be serious," Jack argued.

"Need proof? What do those legends say about their ships?" she suggested, knowing how much he loved the TARDIS. His eyes lit up like it was Christmas.

"I need to run to the store for a few minutes, love. Did you need anything?" Rose called to her husband.

"Bananas! We're all out of bananas!" he shouted back.

"Not a problem," she called to him and led Jack out the door toward the TARDIS.

Rose watched to make sure no one was watching them as she unlocked the doors. She felt both a wave of affection from her as well as concern over Jack's presence out of his time.

"Oh my god! It really is bigger on the inside!" he gasped as he took in the cavernous console room.

"Don't worry, Old Girl. Jack lost his memory, remember. It'll be okay and he can help," Rose told the TARDIS soothingly and patted one of the coral struts.

"Your ship is alive?" Jack asked her, in awe.

"Bigger on the inside, alive, and telepathic," Rose said proudly

"And I'm really going to get to travel with you?" he wondered.

"You already did for us. Don't want to give away too much of the story, but when we met you, you tried to con us and ended up helping us save the human race," she told him teasingly.

"Con you? Oh, you mentioned the Blitz. Please tell me that I didn't try to pull a self-cleaner on you and your husband?" he realized and groaned at his own future.

"Yup!" Rose replied in a manner similar to her alien fiancé/human husband. "Truthfully, the Doctor and I aren't even married yet, just engaged, but I think the TARDIS didn't trust him not to mess it up if his memories said otherwise," she added with a fond grin to the time rotor.

"In this time period? You're probably right. Will I get to be at the real wedding?" Jack requested.

"Oh, I hope so! There's no one I'd rather have there. I know you don't really know me yet, but I swear, you really were like family to me, Jack," she told him earnestly, wishing that she could get a proper hug from him, but not quite feeling right about it when he didn't know her yet.

Jack promised to help keep an eye out for her and John until the threat had passed and Rose locked the ship again before running to the store for more bananas and tea.

###############

"Do we really have to go to this thing, Rose? Wouldn't you rather stay in tonight?" John asked as he wrapped his arms around her and began kissing her neck.

Rose was wearing a lovely gold, shimmering dress, her hair up with a few loose curls accenting her face. John was wearing his tuxedo and trainers. That look was painfully familiar, reminding her that this sweet man who called her his soulmate as he gazed into her eyes during the sweetest of intimate moments, would be gone soon. They'd been here for two months now and she had come to love the little differences in John as much as the quirks she loved in her Doctor.

"Yes, John. The Business Improvement Association is putting on this gala to raise money and as a business owner in the area, you are expected to be there. Is it so horrible to think that you might need to dance with me?" she told him.

"Oi! I've danced with you plenty of times! Remember when we crashed that wedding and danced to You May Be Right?" he responded and twirled her playfully the way he had at Donna's reception. She smiled at the memory that he almost had right. It was little things like that that reminded her he was still there. Her Doctor wasn't gone, he would be fully back soon.

"Well, it turns out it was a lunatic I was looking for. Now let's get going before we miss nibbles," she teased and they left for the party.

The ballroom was absolutely sparkling when they arrived and everyone dressed to the nines. Everyone who was anyone had been invited as the BIA hoped to gain some investors. John surprised Rose by immediately spinning her onto the dance floor and she laughed happily. He smiled at his ability to make her so happy and leaned down to whisper into her ear, "I love you, my soulmate, my Rose."

Her stomach flipped and she kissed him quickly before he tipped her back into a dip. They were both slightly breathless when they got to their table to rest and John offered to go get them both some refreshments. While he was gone, she saw Jack enter the room and look around as if he was searching for someone. As soon as he spotted her, he ran over and the look on his face had her instantly on high alert. "Jack, what is it?"

"Someone was asking very pointed questions about you and your husband. I just got a horrible feeling about it and your hunters might be close," he informed her.

"Well, until we know for sure, we just need to be on our guard. As soon as I open the watch they'll be able to find him for sure, so I can't yet," Rose replied, grasping the watch in the hidden pocket of her dress tightly. She felt her Doctor's mind caress hers lightly and there was a faint whisper of, _'not yet.'_

"Jack! Fancy seeing you here," John called as he returned to the table with glasses of champagne for Rose and himself. "I hope you're staying, the evening will be far more interesting with you here," he added and waggled his eyebrows.

Jack laughed and agreed to stay, seemingly taking on the role of bodyguard, which Rose was grateful for. They all sat together and were soon joined by Marcus from the restaurant.

"Rose, John, good to see you," he greeted them and sat next to John. Rose thought it was a little odd since he talked with her more often than John, but maybe he had business things to discuss. He sniffed loudly and looked curiously at her before addressing her husband. "Where was it that you two came from before settling here?" he questioned.

"Oh all over," John replied and laced his fingers with hers. "We were constantly travelling before and decided that it was time to stop all that. So I stopped my work for the Agency and now we can start a family," he explained and the statement caused a wave of shock to run through Rose instantly.

A family? Was that what he wanted? Was it just John or did the Doctor secretly want that too? They had discussed the possibilities, and the Doctor said he couldn't have children. The TARDIS had been the one to get the contraceptive shot to her before all of this. Maybe it was just one of those memories that was designed to keep him with her. They would certainly have to talk about this after.

The discussion through the evening was getting more and more suspicious. Marcus kept asking about things that they had discussed many times before and seemed slightly confused when she made comments about things in his own past that he had told her. Rose was thrown from her own thoughts though when a woman in a bright red dress slammed the door to the ballroom open loudly and fired a blaster at the ceiling, leaving a black scorch mark.

"I'd like to have a word with John Smith," she announced loudly and smirked.


	27. The Family of Blood

A woman in a bright red dress slammed the door to the ballroom open, making a loud bang. She fired a blaster at the ceiling, leaving a black scorch mark.

 

"I'd like to have a word with John Smith," she announced loudly. 

 

Several people screamed, and most tried to get away from the woman. There was no escape, though. Other people entered the room from the other entrances, all with guns drawn. Rose looked around them in horror. There were only supposed to be a few members of the Family! Were all these people part of it?

 

“Time Agency! No one move!” one of the other people shouted. Most everyone froze and held their hands up, including John. Jack and Rose didn’t, however, and neither did Marcus. 

 

“Now, where is the one called John Smith?” the woman in red questioned.

 

“He’s right here,” Marcus responded, earning a glare and a questioning look from Rose. 

 

“What do you want with him?” Rose asked, stepping in front of John. 

 

“He tampered with files for the Agency.  Made it appear that he used to work for us, when he never did.  Who knows what else he corrupted in our database.  He is clearly a spy and must be disposed of,” she accused.  

 

“A spy!?” John shouted indignantly. “I did used to work with the Agency! You lot sent me all over creation!” 

 

“Don’t listen to a word he says.  He and his accomplices are to be executed,” she ordered.

 

“Executed?!” Jack shouted incredulously.  “That’s definitely not procedure.”

 

“Says the other spy,” Marcus accused.

 

“Enough, we need to get out of here,” Rose whispered to Jack and John as she scanned the exits for an opening.

 

“Rose, tell them! I was with the agency when we met!” John protested desperately. 

 

“I’ll explain later, John, just trust me that we’ve got to get out of here,” she insisted.

 

“You’re not going anywhere,” Marcus growled, having been close enough to hear most of their discussion.  He drew a weapon that looked just like the one the woman was holding and lunged toward Rose. Jack drew his sonic blaster instinctively to protect his friends.  A second later, Marcus collapsed on the floor.

 

“Stop them!” the woman demanded angrily and several agents dashed toward them.

 

Choosing an exit, Rose pulled John along with her and Jack followed, keeping his gun drawn.  The agent that had been covering that door was heading straight for them his blaster aimed clearly for John’s head and Rose deflected him with a fierce kick to the hips that threw him into a nearby table.  His blaster fired into the air, knocking a chandelier to the floor.

 

“Just what the hell’s going on here?” John asked, clearly terrified. “This isn’t how you deal with a suspect. How the hell did I ever become a suspect?”

 

“John! Please just come on!” Rose shouted at him, tugging his hand. He relented, realizing that he’d have to run and they escaped, with Jack covering their exit. 

 

The three of them ran for a bit when Jack suddenly said, “Come this way.” Rose, trusting Jack, followed him, making John follow her. Just as they were about to make a turn into an alleyway, they came across two children blocking the way.

 

“We knew about your bolt hole,” a boy of about thirteen said eerily.

 

“You shouldn’t have tried to escape,” the little girl, about the age of seven added. 

 

“You killed Father of Mine. Now we’ll return the favor,” the boy finished. The two of them drew weapons that looked like the ones Marcus and the woman in red held. 

 

“Back this way!” Rose shouted suddenly and they all dashed away from the children as fast as their feet could carry them.  She wasn’t sure where to go, but after a few turns, she saw an abandoned warehouse nearby and ran for it.

 

Jack secured the door behind them and they all took a moment to catch their breath.

 

“What is going on, Rose?” John demanded angrily.

 

“Oh, John, I never imagined this would be so hard when we started,” she mumbled, leaning her head against the wall.

 

“Started?  Started what?” he questioned.

 

“Your name isn’t John Smith.  I know you think it is, but it’s not,” she began and pulled the watch from her pocket.  He stared at it, seeming to almost recognize the item.

 

“What are you talking about, Love?  Of course I’m John Smith.  I met you in London, 2005,” he argued.

 

“Yeah, we did.  But you weren’t a Time Agent.  Your name is the Doctor and you have a time machine called the TARDIS.  She’s a blue police box, do you remember?” she prompted.

 

“I-I,” John started. “How do you know that? I specifically didn’t tell you about those dreams!” he protested, taking two steps back from her. He then looked over at Jack. “And you! You shot that man. You killed Rose’s friend!”

 

“I had to!” Jack defended himself. “He was going after Rose!”

 

“John, it wasn’t Marcus.  Not anymore.  We’ve been hiding from these aliens, hunters you called them.  They’ve possessed those people and are trying to kill you,” Rose argued.

 

“They possessed all of those people?” he asked incredulously. “Just to kill me?” 

 

“They wouldn’t have needed to possess all of them, just Marcus and Julie,” Jack explained.

 

“Julie?” Rose wondered. “Was that the woman in red?” 

 

“Yeah,” Jack responded. “She’s management. All she’d have to do is order everyone else, and they’d do it.”

 

“Make him hold the watch,” the Doctor whispered into Rose’s mind.  She looked down at the golden pocket watch, already mourning the loss of John while also happy to be getting all of her Doctor back.

 

“Hold it, please John,” she requested, offering it to him.

 

“I don’t understand.  What does that thing have to do with any of this?” he countered.

 

“Just hold it and you will,” Rose insisted. “You’ll understand everything.”

 

“If I’m this Doctor that I’ve been dreaming about, and not John Smith, then who are you?  I loved you, Rose.  Was this all a lie?” he asked with tears forming in his eyes.

 

“No.  It’s not a lie.  We aren’t really married yet, but we are engaged.  Most of those memories that you have of our travels are real. We really did go to a wedding and dance to You May Be Right. We really did try to visit Elvis and see the Beatles. And my mother and Mickey really are gone, but they aren’t dead. They were trapped in a parallel universe during a battle where I almost fell into the Void.  Please, trust me.  Hold the watch,” Rose pleaded.

 

“You’ve been lying to me, all this time,” he whispered brokenly.

 

“Only about who you were and what really happened with my family,” she explained. “Only the lies I had to tell to keep you safe.”

 

John shook his head in denial and looked down at his feet for a moment. “What happens when I hold the watch?” he asked suddenly. 

 

“I think you become the Doctor again,” Rose replied. 

 

“Why would I want to do that?” he asked brokenly. “You don’t know what I’ve seen!” he said, tapping his temple. “He’s bad, he’s-”

 

“No, he’s not!” Rose shouted suddenly, cutting John off. “The things that we have to do sometimes are horrible, but are better than the alternative.”

 

“Planets, Rose,” he spoke suddenly and forcefully. “He’s destroyed planets full of people!”

 

Jack gasped next to them. “Wait, what?” 

 

“I know,” Rose whispered, shutting her eyes. This was hard.

 

“So, this Doctor guy is that dangerous and you wa-” Jack started, but Rose cut him off before he could get going.

 

“Lots of people are that dangerous when there is as much at stake as there was then. There was a war, between two extremely powerful races, and all of creation was at stake, literally. The war was between the Daleks and your people, the Time Lords,” she explained to John. 

 

“The Daleks. They all disappeared,” Jack said. “No one ever knew where they went to.” 

 

“They went to fight in the Time War,” Rose said. “Two races with the ability to travel in time, and they were tearing the universe apart. It had to end. And you were the one to save everyone else.”

 

“I’m not the Doctor, I want nothing to-,” John was denying. 

 

“Yes, you are!” Rose asserted. “You’re him, but as a human and without the guilt. I see it every day, in all the things you do. The Time Agent thing was because you’re a time traveler. Your non-stop gob, though it’s a bit calmer as a human, probably because you need to breathe more often now. You run a little repair shop, which goes right along with how you’re always tinkering with things. John, look at how you’re dressed! Trainers with a tuxedo!” she nearly shouted, pointing down at the black and white Converse on his feet.  

 

“So?” he argued. “They’re comfortable.”

 

“Yeah, but who does that? No one I know of, except the Doctor,” Rose pointed out.

 

“I don’t want to be,” he whispered brokenly. “I just want to settle down, start a family, and grow old with you. You’d be a great mother. I can’t do that as the Doctor,” he told her, cupping her cheek with his hand and rubbing the tear track under her eye away with his thumb.

 

“I don’t want that. I never wanted that. I just want my Doctor,” Rose insisted. John stiffened up at her words.

 

“At the price of me,” he snapped.

 

“No, no, you don’t get it,” Rose explained. “You’re not going anywhere. You’re a part of him. You’ll just be all of yourself again. I love you, no matter who you change into.”

 

John nodded, watching her eyes for any signs that she was lying to him.  He placed his hand over hers and they held the watch between them.  In a flash, the Doctor’s consciousness showed him the truth behind her words, the strength of their link, and he could feel just how much the Doctor loved her and would keep her safe.

 

“My soulmate, my Rose,” he whispered to her and gave her a soft kiss, both of them had tears falling down their cheeks.  Without another word, he bravely pressed the release on the watch and a golden light shone around him.

 

Rose gasped when she realized what he had done and that she didn’t get to really say goodbye, but before she could pull away and cry for the loss of her human husband, she was swept up into the arms of her alien fiancé.  He whispered her name softly, breathing in her scent.

 

“Doctor?” she asked, confirming that it was really him again, though she could feel two heartbeats in his chest again.

 

“Of course! You weren’t expecting anyone else, were you?”,” he said with a grin.  “Jack!  What in the world shall we do with you now?  Well, we’d best take care of our other problem first, I suppose.”

 

“How are we going to deal with them, Doctor?” Rose asked him.

 

“I’d say that we could get the authorities to take care of them, they have the proper equipment to contain them, but they’ve taken on the roles of the authorities themselves, which makes that rather difficult,” the Doctor rambled as he considered all of the facts.

 

Outside, they suddenly heard several explosions.  Rose ran to the doors to peek outside.  Several small teams of Time Agents were breaking down the doors of the surrounding businesses and residences, searching for them.  On the back of a truck, she saw the TARDIS.  The three people that they knew where the remaining hunters, rode in the car, calling loudly, “Doctor!  Come claim your ship, Doctor!”

 

“It won’t be long before they find us,” Jack pointed out. 

 

“What are we gonna do?” Rose asked worriedly.

 

"You are going to stay right here," he began, but Rose was immediately shaking her head.  "I know, Love," he countered, using the endearment that John had called her for months. "But I need you safe and to secure the TARDIS."

 

"They can't get inside her, Doctor.  Don't think you're going to fool me that way," she argued.  "And I've been in far more danger with you not yourself than I am now that you're back to normal."

 

The Doctor rubbed a hand down his face as he resigned himself to accept his future wife's stubbornness.  "Then you need to stay close to me unless I tell you to run. Please, Rose," he insisted, holding her hands tightly in his own. Rose nodded in response. 

 

“Beautiful as this is, and I gotta say, you two are a gorgeous couple, we need to have a plan. Right now, we’ve got three possessed people and an army of Time Agents out for us. And those agents are thinking we’re spies and killers.”

 

“We are killers,” Rose reminded him. 

 

“The Doctor and I, yeah, but not you, Rosie,” Jack said with assurance. 

 

“I’ve killed,” she informed him matter-of-factly, ignoring the sad look the Doctor gave her. “Now, what’s our plan?”

 

#############

 

The Doctor had taken off his tuxedo jacket and tie and ruffled up his hair (or, more accurately, Rose ruffled it up for him) so that he could get closer to the hunters before he was seen for who he was. Rose was right next to him, with her hair down and wearing the jacket that the he wasn’t wearing to change her look a bit.  He walked right up to the woman in red, who was giving an order to one of the agents. The agent she was speaking to saw him first and his eyes widened. 

 

“Um, ma’am,” he said, pointing behind her. She sniffed, turned around, and gave a huge grin. 

 

“I knew you were in the immediate area, I could smell you, Time Lord,” she bragged. “You changed back.”

 

“Yes, I did,” he replied, unconcerned. “Funny thing is, I changed in the first place for a reason. To give you lot a chance to live your lives as they were meant to be lived.”

 

Rose noticed that the agents were coming in closer. The woman in red, Julie, or the mother of the Family, looked around and grinned.

 

“John Smith, you’re under arrest for espi-” she started, sneering at him.

 

“No, I don’t think I am,” the Doctor stated loudly and confidently. He looked around him at all of the Time Agents closing in. “By article fifty-seven B of the Agency’s charter, a Time Lord’s orders superceded any and all orders given by any employee of the Time Agency. The agency only exists because my people allow it.”

 

The agents all stopped. A couple of them lowered their weapons, and a few others looked between the Doctor and the woman they thought was their boss uncertainly.

 

“How do we know you’re what you say you are?” one of the agents, a woman with blonde and black streaks in her hair, asked. “We’ve never even seen a Time Lord before. I’ve always thought that was a way to keep agents in line.”

 

“You look human,” another one, a man with vaguely Asian features, agreed. The Doctor gazed at the man who’d said that, and Rose knew the exact words he was about to say. 

 

“No. You look Time Lord. We came first,” he informed the man with every bit of pomposity Rose knew he was capable of. The man who’d challenged him lowered his weapon, but still held it, ready to use it if need be. 

 

“Don’t take his word for it, take the words of one of your own,” Rose spoke up suddenly and pointed at the agent who’d alerted Mother to their presence. He was one of the ones who’d lowered his weapon. “What did your boss say when we walked up to her?” 

 

“She said that she could smell him and called him a Time Lord,” the agent replied, looking uncomfortable. At his words, almost every agent lowered their weapons. Many of them even holstered their blasters. 

 

"Kill him!  Your orders are to kill both of them!" Mother shouted angrily. Her two children left their spot by the TARDIS and came to stand by her side as they faced the Doctor.

 

None of the agents moved. There were murmurs from them, and one asked why there were two children involved, to the agreement of the others.

 

“Looks like you picked the wrong army to apprehend a Time Lord,” Rose commented, grinning at the three possessed people. 

 

“Take these three into custody,” the Doctor ordered. “They’re possessed by Oinaroxias.” 

 

Mother let out a wordless scream as a couple of the agents moved in to apprehend them, but the older of the children, the brother, lunged to pull Rose into their custody. Jack, who had been easing around behind the rest of the agents, once again proved himself by tackling the child away from her.  

 

#######

 

One of the nearby Time Agents took in the scene.  He knew Jack and had always respected the man, but the captain had been investigating and had found out some things about him that he didn’t want to get out. He saw this moment as his time to act.  The agent took out a weapon and fired on Jack. He could say that he had only seen him physically attacking a child and acted accordingly. 

 

"No! Jack!" the blonde woman wearing the Time Lord’s tuxedo jacket screamed as Captain Jack Harrison crumpled to the ground.

 


	28. Same Ol' Life

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We love all of the reviews we've been getting, thank you!
> 
> Now for the aftermath of the Family, closing an causal loop, and some serious discussion.

 

"No! Jack!" Rose screamed as she watched her old friend collapse on the ground. He couldn't be dead! Not only did she not want her friend and confidant dead, but universally speaking, the paradox would be catastrophic. She barely even noticed as the Doctor pulled her into his arms.

The Time Agents took all of the family of hunters into custody and contained them with some kind of force field that was known to work on the aliens that the Doctor had identified them as. Now knowing that the Doctor was considered to be a superior authority as a Time Lord, the agents let them be. The man that had fired on Jack was to be reprimanded since Jack had been justified in restraining someone that was to be arrested.

Rather than accepting the Agency's medics, however, the Doctor insisted on tending to Jack himself. Their friend couldn't be dead before they had even met him and he didn't feel the grating on his time senses that a paradox would create.

"What're we gonna do, Doctor? He can't be dead! He just can't!" Rose sobbed.

The Doctor knelt on the ground next to him and checked him over. "He isn't dead, Love. Just unconscious. Gimme a minute," he told her as he pressed his fingers to Jack's temples. After a quick search, his suspicions were confirmed. "It wasn't a shot meant to hurt him. It just erased his memories. We knew it would happen, and now we know how."

"He told me that he was making a list of people in the Time Agency that were corrupting it from the inside," she admitted.

"How much did you tell him?" he questioned, worried about what she might have revealed despite the fact that Jack wouldn't remember. He might have told someone or written something down.

"It's alright, Doctor. I didn't tell him much. He guessed that I had met him out of order based on my reaction to seeing him. He was suspicious and I had to tell him a bit about us so that he would trust me. We might have both been killed if he hadn't helped us," she assured him.

"I know," he sighed and hugged Rose tightly as he considered just how close they had come to getting themselves killed during this adventure.

"We're alright now, yeah?" she whispered, stroking his back as a reminder that she was still there for him.

"Yeah," he responded and pulled away to look appraisingly at their unconscious friend. "We'd best get him into his ship and send him back to the Blitz though."

Rose giggled. "If he's forgotten the last two years, does he remember where he got the ship from? 'Cause he told us about that. I thought it might have been after he lost his memories, but he already had it and you've already fixed it up with his vortex manipulator," she wondered.

"You're right. I'll have to plant some memories that fit with the story he told us. Maybe make a few suggestions to point him in our direction, just in case," he said with a wink.

"What about the ambulance he had?" Rose wondered. In answer, the Doctor lifted the cover off of a shape that had appeared while she was out the day before. It was the familiar tube of the Chula battle ambulance.

"Picked it up for parts," he bragged. "Glad I didn't get to use it for parts. And you'll probably never hear me say that again. Didn't know it had active nanogenes in it. but, I guess it was meant to be."

Together, they moved Jack into his Chula ship, buckled him in, and the Doctor programmed the ambulance and his Navcon to take him back in time. Once the ship was gone, Rose gathered their things from the flat and they walked in silence back to the TARDIS.

"You alright, Love?" the Doctor asked her once they were back home. He flicked the controls that would send them into the vortex and watched as his fiancée sat heavily on the jumpseat, avoiding looking at him entirely. He desperately wished that their connection was reestablished so that he could feel her emotions in that moment.

"Why are you calling me that? You never did before," she questioned quietly.

"Ah," he realized and moved to sit beside her. "You said it yourself, Rose, before I changed back. John Smith was still me, not another person. I never used that word before, because it didn't mean much to me. Love isn't an emotion that was known on Gallifrey. You've felt that from me before. We had affection and respect, even lust, though it was rare and they tried to stop that. But now, I've lived with you as a human. Loved you as a human. I understand it better. I had been trying before, but now, this experience has taught me what that feeling really is; what it means. Especially to you."

Rose kissed his cheek and nuzzled closer into his side as they sat together. "You gonna tell me what it was that you said in your language before you changed?" she asked. It had bothered her for months that she didn't know what he had said. She might never have found out if something had happened to him.

The Doctor hummed happily and squeezed her closer. "I already did," he told her.

"You did?" she wondered.

"My soulmate, my Rose," he whispered into her ear and moved to suck on her neck. As he prodded his forehead against her temple, he initiated the connection that both of them had missed so much over the last two months. They both sighed happily as they sank into each other's mind.

"You know, you could have just left me as a human and found a different way to deal with them," the Doctor whispered into her neck. Rose pulled back in shock and looked at him.

"Why would I have done that?" she asked.

"It never occurred to you?" he wondered. "To just let-"

"Are you really so convinced I'm gonna wake up some day wishing I was in a house on the countryside with a human husband and a dog and our two-point-five kids?" she questioned, interrupting him. "Because I'll tell you right now, I want that like an Ood would want a hairbrush." Her eye narrowed in suspicion. "Unless this is some more of your Curse crap."

"Curse crap!" he interjected indignantly.

"Cause I'll tell you right now, every couple there ever was or will ever be has had to live with the fact that one of them is going to outlive the other, unless they are incredibly lucky and die together," she finished, ignoring his outburst.

"It's just...It was a good life. The kind of life you deserve," he explained.

"Yeah, it was a good life," Rose agreed. "But it's not the life I want. There was also the problem that the man who thought he really was my husband couldn't remember our time together properly and I couldn't tell him," she said, pointedly and leaned against the console.

"What if…?" the Doctor started, then trailed off. "Nah, nevermind." He got up and went over to the other side of the console. Rose recognized the behavior and followed him, making sure she stayed in his line of sight.

"What if?" she asked. The Doctor sighed, and she knew he'd answer her.

"What if I could've remembered?" he asked.

"You mean to turn yourself into a human, but remember?" Rose wondered. "You'd go crazy, just from having to sleep so much or forget that you were a weak and fragile human and get yourself killed," she scoffed.

"Oi!" he protested. "I'm not that bad."

"You would be," she said. "Besides. The universe is much better off with you as a Time Lord." When the Doctor conceded with a nod, she asked. "So, now that you're back to your usual self, how was being one of us lesser beings?"

"Being human wasn't so bad. Something about you lot, you've got a special spark. A-"

"You do know that humans are among the most dangerous and violent beings in the cosmos, right?" she challenged.

"Oh, that's before you lot got educated about the universe. Human kind's much better in the future. Wellll I say much better, I mean a bit better. Some. Sort of. A few of you are really brilliant," he babbled, causing Rose to smile for a moment, until she remembered something.

"So, about that lifespan thing," she started. "Have you come up with any answers yet? You know, that don't involve you turning into a human?" She chewed her thumbnail nervously.

The Doctor sighed. "I've found several ways, hundreds, actually. People are so preoccupied with extending their lives, and for all the wrong reasons." That made Rose fidget a little.

"Anyway," the Doctor continued, "I've checked and rechecked them and most include periodic transplants, like those people we came across in twenty-six thousand B.C. And that is not only dangerous, but won't work for very long. Most of the rest either won't work with your unique physiology, would change your physical self to something you really wouldn't want, or they're extremely dangerous."

"Oh. So, we can't-" she started, but couldn't continue. She really had wanted to give him a proper forever.

"I didn't say that," he said. "We've got all of time and space to look at. I've only checked hundreds, but there's likely thousands of ways to go through. We just have to find the right way, one that'll do all the key things." he explained.

Rose nodded in answer. Then a thought hit her. "Key!" she exclaimed.

"Key?" the Doctor asked.

"Key!" she repeated, grinning. She pointed up at the ceiling, where she knew the helmet to the Chameleon Arch was suspended. "The Chameleon Arch! If it could make you like me, maybe it could make me like you?" she queried.

"What? But..." he started, glancing up at the spot she was pointing to.

"Just think about it. The Face of Boe said something about seeking answers, then, 'The arch is the key!'" She was properly excited, even bouncing a bit while the Doctor was still looking confused.

"But it's not meant to do that," he said after a moment. "I could reconfigure it, I suppose. It might be possible. No. Yes! No, no, no, that won't…" he babbled, running his fingers through his hair and pacing.

Rose knew he was giving it serious thought and stood there silently while he worked it out. Every few turns, he'd glance at her, and she'd give him an encouraging smile. Suddenly, he stopped and faced her.

"I don't know, Rose. It's theoretically possible, but I don't know if you'd survive the transformation and even if you did, do you have any idea how much it would hurt?" he questioned.

"I did watch you go through it," Rose replied, almost whispering.

"Imagine being set on fire in every cell, and you might come close," he told her, a bit cruelly. Rose knew what he was doing. He had a tendency to be cruel every time he was trying to make a point about something unpleasant, but Rose wouldn't let him deter her.

"Good thing it's only one time," she said stubbornly, but saw he was still unsure. "Look at it like this, I'll be even more resilient, I'll be able to live as long as you, and you won't be alone any longer. I know it's not the same, but, well, I've said it before, I wish I could be like you, and now here's a way to make it possible."

"I don't need you to change species to not be alone," the Doctor spoke softly. "I don't need you to change at all, you know that, right?" he asked in realization. Rose bit her lip. "Oh, Rose. You can stay as you are and nothing will change between us. Come here." he took her hand and pulled her into a hug.

Rose put her ear to his chest to listen to the calming four beat of his hearts. In truth, she hadn't been too sure. He'd escalated their relationship moments after she'd said she'd live longer for him and less than a day after finding out that she had a couple extra decades.

This was one of those moments she wished she could take a trip to see her mother, though she didn't need her to know what she'd say. _Don't you dare change yourself to keep any man, Rose,_ her mind said in her mother's voice. She held the Doctor tighter, knowing for sure she didn't have to now.

"Okay, that settles it, no changing," the Doctor suddenly said and pulled back.

"What? Wait. No!" Rose exclaimed.

"Rose, I could feel what you felt," he explained. "You felt relieved. I'm not going to-"

"No, that was relief at knowing for sure I don't have to. That doesn't mean I don't want to," she argued.

He stared at her for close to a half minute, and she stared right back. Suddenly, he took a step forward to close the gap between them and put his fingers to her temples. The second his fingertips touched her skin, she felt a need. For what, she didn't know. She raised her own hands to his in assent of whatever he was about to do and closed her eyes.

"There will be no misunderstandings this way," was all the explanation she was given before she felt him in her mind.

He sent her a lot of memories. She saw the sorrow every time someone he'd become close to left him and the loneliness before he found someone new to impress. There was desperation to keep some of them with him. He'd had companions die on him, which hadn't surprised her, with their life. There were two who'd had to forget all except for their meeting and first adventure with him as a punishment to him. She'd have rather had death than lose those memories.

He'd been intent on showing her the pain over the centuries, but she pushed for the good as well, because she knew it was there. She found Barbara and Ian, who'd been the first humans on board, and he'd kidnapped them! His granddaughter, Susan, who he would humour more than he should have. Sarah Jane was so young in his memories, and feisty. He'd traveled with a Time Lady for a while, against his wishes, but after their assignment, Romana had stayed with him. Ace had been like a daughter to him. He'd wanted her to go to the Academy and become a Human Time Lady. She'd wound up on Earth running a charity. He'd fallen in affection/respect/lust with a woman called Charley-and hadn't been afraid to call it love.

She started getting dizzy, and the Doctor broke the connection. "Are you okay?" he asked worriedly and he wrapped one of his arms around her waist to steady her.

"Yeah, yeah, that was just a lot to take in all at once," she assured him.

"You're tired," he observed. There was no point in denying it. It had been late evening when the aliens had shown themselves, and since then, it'd been a long, complicated and emotional day. "Come on, Let's get you to bed."

Back in the room that had become theirs, Rose stripped her dress off and crawled under the covers. The Doctor made to leave, but Rose held out her hand. The Doctor smiled and pulled off his black Converse. He crawled in and held her.

"You're going to see if it'll work, yeah?" Rose asked. "Really look into it from every angle?"

"Yeah, but if it's too dangerous, I'm not doing it," he asserted. "We'll find something."

"Fair enough." she replied and kissed him softly. Hands started roaming, and he made love to her gently.

The next morning, she found him under the console as usual. There was a stack of papers nearby the opening, and she saw what was obviously an exploded view of the Chameleon Arch helmet.

"Good morning, relatively speaking," Rose greeted him. "What's on the agenda today?"

He crawled out of the grating and let the hatch fall down with a clang. "Time to get back to the same ol' life. On the road again. Going places that we've never been. Seeing things that we may-" the Doctor stopped and looked off to the side for a moment. "No, no, that's Willie Nelson. Never mind." He turned to her and said, "My point was, I'm me again, and you're your beautiful self, and we ought to go somewhere fun to celebrate."


	29. Confrontations

After a couple of days of going places that were fun, Rose and the Doctor wound up at the inaugural ball of the President of Lithan on Quencian. The Lady President herself was speaking to some ambassador. This wasn't the type of scene Rose enjoyed. A bunch of hoity toity people getting together in their finest-or just what they wore on Saturday-made her cringe.

They were trying to stop a woman who'd traveled to that time and was going to try to kill the President's wife. She would start a series of programs that ended a long standing dispute between her people and the neighboring country. Rose couldn't remember all of the details, but she was all for keeping people alive who would bring peace.

"Drink? Sir, Madam?" a teenage girl dressed in the uniform of the wait staff asked. She held a stone tray with four green drinks sitting atop if it.

"Which one is this?" the Doctor asked.

"Jafarr," she replied, naming the drink. The Doctor immediately made a face and declined for both of them.

"What's in it?" Rose asked.

"Pears," he replied, making the cute scrunched up face again. Rose giggled. "Oi! Don't giggle at me. And don't think I've forgotten about the pear incident, either, Rose Tyler," he chided her. "Seven things, just seven, and you broke one of them."

"You'll find that I have no remorse," Rose replied, grinning at the memory as she looked out over the crowd. Then her grin disappeared as she realized something.

"What?" the Doctor asked, picking up on her sudden change in demeanor.

"Wait staff," Rose explained.

"Oh," the Doctor realized. "How did we miss that?"

"We're thick," Rose replied. They'd fallen into the trap of not noticing the people who were wearing uniforms. The supposed teenage girl who'd offered them drinks was the woman they were looking for.

They'd stopped her, just as she was handing a drink to the First Lady. Rose slapped it out of her hand and they both explained what had happened. When the drink was tested, the woman had been imprisoned, and the Doctor and Rose went back to the TARDIS, mission accomplished.

####################

Snuggled together in bed, Rose contemplated how to start this conversation as the Doctor drew circles on the skin of her arm. "What are you writing?" she asked quietly, not wanting to break the intimacy of the moment.

He smirked and responded, "Of course you recognize it as writing. Brilliant, you are. Sometimes I write the story of how we met. Sometimes about how you absorbed time just to keep me safe. But, right now, I'm writing your name and mine together."

"Like the Doctor plus Rose in a little heart?" she giggled.

"No," he whispered. "Not the Doctor. That is the title that I chose. My real name is hidden from the universe, only to be revealed to my wife."

Rose kissed him then, realizing that he was really letting her into those little secret parts of him that he had always kept hidden away from everyone. She desperately didn't want to spoil this moment with an argument, but they had put off the conversation for too long already.

"Doctor, what happened to Jack after the Game Station?" Rose questioned after allowing a few moments of reflection on what he had already revealed to her. He took a sharp breath and she could see him bracing himself for another deflection. "Don't. Don't tell me he was busy rebuilding the Earth or some other rubbish like that. Is he dead?"

He sighed, realizing that he couldn't hide anything from her anymore. "No, Love, he's not dead. The problem is that he was dead. When you came back as the Bad Wolf, Jack had been killed by the Daleks and you brought him back."

"What? How could you have just left him there after that?" she asked accusingly.

"I couldn't help it, Rose. I was dying, knew I'd regenerate soon, you were unconscious, and when you brought him back... He's different now. It would have been even worse for my regeneration if he had been near me," he tried to explain.

"What do you mean? How is he different? What could Jack have done that would have made it worse?" Rose pressed.

"He's a fixed point in time now. He cannot not exist in the universe," he told her.

"You mean, he can't die?" she asked in shock and sat up abruptly.

"Well, he can I suppose, but he would come right back. The universe will refuse to allow him to stay dead. It hurts my time senses to be around him and you saw what a mess I was after my regeneration. I couldn't be near him, so I got us away from there," he admitted, hoping that she would understand that he had been functioning on instinct alone in that moment.

"And I did that to him? He'll just keep dying over and over? Why would I do that?" Rose wondered, tears falling down her cheeks.

"Oh, Rose. You didn't mean to. At least, I can't imagine that you meant to. The power inside of you was out of your control. It was too much and it isn't your fault. You wanted Jack alive and you did that, but controlling life and death is too big a responsibility for anyone," he assured her as he rubbed her back soothingly.

"Can we go find him? Now that you're better? I need to know that he's ok. He saved us back there, Doctor. He's saved us so many times. Jack deserves at least an explanation of what did that to him," she insisted. "Even if he hates me for it, I need to see him again."

"I don't know, Rose. It's me he'll probably hate for abandoning him and I couldn't bear it if he blamed you for anything," he replied, rubbing his neck nervously.

"But it's my fault," Rose argued. "He has the right to blame me for it."

"I'd rather he just blamed me for everything," he said and flopped onto his back next to her.

Rose leaned over him to say, "I know you'd take on anything for my sake, but Jack deserves to know and he deserves the chance to talk to us about it. Also, you might be able to help him get those memories back, yeah?"

"I'm not sure. I could try, if he trusts me to be anywhere near him after all of this," he sighed.

"Do you know how to find him?" Rose wondered.

"I can set up a scan in the morning. There can't be too many beings like that out there, but he had his vortex manipulator, remember. He could have gone anywhere in the universe and in time," he responded, hoping she would drop it for tonight.

"There is no morning on the TARDIS, Doctor. You're always saying that. You just want me to go to sleep," she argued.

"For now. It might take a while to find him, Rose, but I promise that we will look. Now, you're tired and I want to hold you for a few hours and just relax, knowing you're safe," he told her with a light kiss to her temple.

"Alright, Doctor. I love you," she acquiesced and snuggled into his side, resting her head on his chest.

"And I love you, my soulmate, my Rose," he whispered to her softly and held her close. Rose hummed a little and he felt her happiness at his words, but she was still a bit angry with him and hurt at the situation.

The Doctor rubbed her back as she slowly calmed down. Not long after she fell asleep, he followed her in what he hoped would be a peaceful slumber.

###################

The next morning, relatively speaking, Rose followed the Doctor to the console room, where he was inputting parameters into the scanner. He hit the last few buttons with a flourish and turned to her. "There, the scanner's working now," he told her.

"I was wondering, couldn't we just go back to right after we left and see if we could catch him there?" Rose asked.

"I did check that. The TARDIS refuses to go too close to those events. The nearest I could even scan the vicinity, he's already gone and I'm not sure where," he told her honestly.

"Alright then, where shall we go while our lovely ship searches for our long-lost friend?" she asked, happy that he was keeping his promise to search without any further prompting from her. Maybe he missed Jack as well.

"I have the perfect place," he replied with a smirk. Flicking a few levers, he piloted them to their destination and Rose felt an odd hum from the TARDIS. She wasn't sure what it was, but thought maybe it had something to do with her search for Jack, so she ignored it.

"Where are we?" she questioned as she threaded her arm through his. He led her down the street toward a marketplace, filled with people and the strong aromas of food. She breathed in deeply, always ready to sample something new.

"This is The Market. The whole planet is a giant bazaar. You can get anything here, well... I say anything. What I mean is anything that's not one of a kind in the Milky Way Galaxy in this time frame, which happens to be the thirty-seventh century," he babbled as he guided his fiancée through the crowds toward his intended destination. He knew the moment she saw it, a sign that read 'Chips' boldly in the distance. She squeezed his arm and bounced happily beside him. Yes, this plan was going to work out perfectly.

He ordered two steaming baskets of what looked like perfectly normal Earth chips and placed them on the table. Rose grabbed the salt and shook a generous amount over her share as he smirked and just watched her.

Rose picked up the treat eagerly and placed one into her mouth, closing her eyes and getting ready to sigh happily, as she always did, but her face suddenly contorted into a disgusted grimace at the taste. "Ugh! What the hell?" she shouted and spit it out into a napkin.

The Doctor burst out laughing. "That, my dear, was for the pear," he teased.

"Oi! You deserved that bloody pear. I've already paid for that one, thank you very much!" she growled at him angrily.

"I don't know what you mean by that. I didn't do anything to warrant such a disgusting punishment," he responded confidently, then grimaced at the memory of the taste.

"Oh really? Do you happen to recall, with that big Time Lord brain of yours, exactly what the topic of conversation was when I gave you that pear?" Rose asked pointedly.

"What has that got to do with... Oh," he stopped himself as he recalled the particular details of that conversation. "You're not still upset over what happened then, are you? I came back, Rose, you wouldn't have been abandoned, the TARDIS would have taken you home if I hadn't returned," he assured her.

"That wasn't the point, Doctor. Yes, I was upset about you leaving me behind, but that was never what really bothered me about all that. It was about her," Rose informed him and nearly started to tear up at the very thought of him running off with the woman he seemed to so admire, even as a human. "There you were, gushing about a woman who was trained to seduce a king and who had called me a child! You were her 'lonely angel,' she was almost a queen, and I was just some stupid kid."

"Oh, Rose, I never knew you were upset about that. I thought it was because I left and didn't think I'd be able to come back," he told her.

"She thought you were hers. And you went off dancing with her and having banana daiquiris while they thought I was compatible and just about cut my brain out," she argued, needing to get it all out for once.

"Rose, I swear to you, I didn't stay away all that time. I was trying to find where they had taken you and when I did, I had to come up with some way of stopping them. That anti-oil stuff wasn't just lying around, you know. If she had died before history said she did, the paradox would have ripped a hole in the universe. More holes than the ship did, and worse ones. I have a responsibility," he insisted.

"So, take me with you. I know you said you couldn't take the TARDIS and we can't change our past, but next time, let me be stranded with you," she ordered.

"All I could think of was getting back to you, you know. Stuck there, staring out at the stars, and thinking about how I'd failed you again. She saw that and sent me home to you," he told her.

"So why were you so anxious to bring her along after?" Rose asked, not sure she really wanted to know the answer.

"Because I did admire her," he admitted and Rose scoffed, trying to pull her hands out of his, but he gripped them tighter. "Hear me out. I admired her because she was a brilliant and accomplished woman and she thought to move the fireplace from her childhood home, making it possible for me to get back sooner. I thought she would have enjoyed one trip before being placed back exactly where she belonged in history. If I had taken her from there permanently, it would have been just as dangerous as if she had died. I barely knew her, I certainly didn't care more about her than you, love."

"It didn't feel that way," she sniffled.

"I'm sorry. I should have realized at the time what was upsetting you, but our connection then was much weaker than now and depended on touch and you avoided me for weeks after that. I swear I thought it was because I had abandoned you there," he apologized and kissed her hands. He grimaced a bit as he tasted the chips he had bought earlier on her fingers and felt guilty about having made such a fuss over the pear incident now.

"Saying something sooner might have stopped this from happening," Rose chastised herself.

"Oh, that's disgusting," he groused, tasting one of the chips directly in an effort to change the topic to anything but his shortcomings. "Let's get some real ones."

"Nah, I think I'm off chips for the day," Rose denied, shaking her head.

"Milkshakes?" he suggested, raising his eyebrows hopefully. "They've got lovely banana ones just up the road and chocolate too. Your favourite."

"Alright, Doctor," she sighed and took his hand as they left to enjoy something sweet instead.

########################

Later, when they returned to the TARDIS, the Doctor's pockets were loaded down with items he'd picked up from The Market. He went to the scanner to see if any results had shown up yet in an effort to make things up to Rose, but there was nothing on the immortal Captain. There were other interesting results, though.

"That's odd," the Doctor murmured. Rose came up behind him, looking at the scanner, even though it was all in swirling Gallifreyan.

"What's odd?" Rose asked.

"Temporal disturbances on Earth. Close to your time, too. It's late two thousand seven." He hit some keys and brought up more information on the center of the disturbances. "Ohhh," he enthused.

"Ooh, what?" Rose wondered.

"Would you like to investigate a haunted mansion?" he asked.

"Sounds right up our alley," she said with a smile.

"Well, my dear Daphne, let's go solve a mystery," he joked.

"You remind me more of Shaggy than Fred, but I refuse to be the dog, thanks," she replied, they bumped shoulders playfully and walked out of the TARDIS that had just landed.


	30. Where Are You?

“Ah, here we are,” the Doctor said when he and Rose walked up to the stereotypical old, wrought iron gate covered in ivy. 

 

“Scooby Dooby Doo, where are you,” Rose started singing when she looked through the gate and saw the old mansion inside. 

 

“We got some work to do now,” the Doctor sang the next line and the two of them giggled. He used the sonic on the gate’s lock and pulled the chain from it. When Rose pushed the gate open, it gave a groaning and squealing noise. 

 

“Creepy old mansion? Check. Squealing, ivy covered gate? Check. Bets on secret rooms and trapdoors?” Rose asked teasingly.

 

“Well, it’s always possible,” the Doctor replied seriously. “The old mansions often had at least one secret room. Trapdoors on the other hand, I doubt. Those are a little rare, which is good, ‘cause I’ve never met a trapdoor I liked.”

 

“Well, Doctor, let’s go solve a mystery,” Rose said, still having fun with the Scooby Doo references.

 

He felt the tightening of the timelines and stopped abruptly to turn around in a circle so he could take in the scene. They had been walking down a path beside the house, and he could see a fountain that had thick algae in it. It had a statue standing on the top of it, and the base was covered in more overgrown plants. The place was a stereotypical garden that had been untended for years.

 

Rose had been a step ahead of him when he stopped. Less than half a second after he’d felt that there was a fixed event, she shivered. “You feel that?” she questioned, all trace of amusement had vanished in a flash. 

 

“Yeah, and I’m surprised that you did as well,” he answered. “What did it feel like to you?” he queried tentatively. Could it be? Did Rose have a developing time sense? If she was, how long would it be before it started causing trouble? 

 

Rose thought about it for a second. “Like a vibration,” she said. “Like, not right when you pluck a stringed instrument, but the little bit of vibration that follows as it settles. That makes sense, right?” 

 

It did, it made perfect sense. The Doctor nodded at her and internally sighed in relief. She hadn’t felt it herself. Not that it would be a bad thing for her to be able to sense an approaching paradox or fixed point, but developing a time sense was a rather confusing process, and sometimes painful. 

 

He remembered when his own time sense started developing. He was eight years old and had just gone through initiation into the Academy. Looking into the Untempered Schism would jump start senses he would have developed slowly over a century had he not gone through initiation. They’d be much stronger than the senses of the uninitiated could ever get as well. He’d run from what he’d seen when he looked into time, though he couldn’t remember details about it and by the time someone had found him, his head had been pounding and he was disoriented. 

 

As he thought, he kept an eye out around them, wondering what the fixed event was. What had to happen? All he knew was this time, they both needed to be there. 

 

#########

 

Rose watched the Doctor for a moment. He appeared to be processing several trains of thought and was looking around them. Rose supposed he was taking in details. 

 

“So, what was that?” Rose prompted, wondering what the feeling she’d felt was.

 

“You felt an echo of my own reaction to the fixed timeline through our link,” he explained. “Let’s get inside,” he added, moving toward the nearest open window of the mansion. 

 

“Fixed?” Rose asked. “As in, has to happen? Should we be here?” Rose wondered. 

 

“Yeah,” he answered, stepping through the empty window frame. “We’re part of whatever it is.” Oh, that was just great. Rose’s previous experience with known fixed events hadn’t been good. 

 

They stood in the kitchen of the mansion. It had a great setup, Rose thought, but was, like everything else she’d seen of the big house, long neglected. There were thick layers of dust and a cabinet door had fallen to the floor. Cobwebs were in every corner, but not across the doors, as someone would expect from a house that had been sitting as long as this one had. 

 

A quick peek at the floor showed the dust to have been disturbed recently, which explained the lack of cobwebs. It was obvious that people would go into the house and look around, probably mostly kids and the occasional person who was trying to catch a ghost on their camera.

 

They stepped through the open kitchen door and out into the hall. It was much darker there. Rose reached into the pocket of her blue leather jacket, pulled out a small torch, and flicked it on.

 

The hall was much the same as what she’d seen so far. There was peeling patterned wallpaper and dust on a table halfway down the corridor. The musty smell was stronger here, almost overpowering. 

 

They started checking rooms for anything that would cause the disturbances that had led them there. The Doctor had his sonic out and was scanning for objects that weren’t meant to be there, and Rose was just looking for anything out of place. 

 

They found nothing but empty rooms, with heavy dust, peeling paper, and moldering furniture. One of the doors had needed to be opened to check the room and the resulting draft had kicked dust up and sent Rose into a sneezing fit. The Doctor rummaged in his pockets for what felt like ages before he gave her a small, foil wrapped tablet that she could chew to help with the exposure.

 

The main hall had led right to the entryway, where a chandelier had fallen to the floor and had twisted and shattered.

 

“Well, that’s downstairs,” the Doctor said and looked up the curving staircase. “The stairs seem solid enough, but I’ll go up first to be sure.” He moved gingerly up the stairs. As he did so, he pointed out a couple of spots that felt weak and told Rose about them. 

 

Rose followed him up the stairs and found that he missed a spot. One of the stairs toward the top creaked when she put her full weight on it, but she was able to move before it could fully break. At her squeal, the Doctor turned around and grabbed her arm, just in case.

 

“You alright?” he asked, pulling her to him on the landing at the top of the stairs. 

 

“Yeah,” she answered and brought her lips to his in a quick peck. “Let's do whatever we’ve got to do and get out of here so we can have some real fun.” When the Doctor grinned and winked at her innuendo, she walked to the first door and tried to open it. It was stuck, wedged into the frame, and she pulled on it harder, popping it open. The screws in the top hinge came out of the frame, and the door fell down with a massive bang and puff of dust, nearly hitting Rose, who’d dodged out of the way just in time.

 

“Jeopardy friendly,” the Doctor tutted, looking amused. 

 

“The door nearly hit me!” Rose exclaimed indignantly before she kicked the door. 

 

The Doctor chuckled lightly. “If there was anything in this house, it’s definitely awake now.” He scanned the room quickly. The two of them then started going through the upstairs hall much like they had downstairs. They criss crossed the hallway, clearing each room before moving off to the next one.  

 

Rose had left the third room before the Doctor, walked down the hall to the next one, and peeked in the open door. What she saw startled her. There was a statue in there of- of all things- an angel. It faced away from her as if it were looking out the window. Except it had its eyes covered by its hands. 

It was a beautiful, but haunting statue, and she wondered why it was in an upstairs bedroom, of all things. 

 

“Doctor?” she called, and glanced to her side to see that the Doctor had exited the other room and was walking toward her. When she turned her attention back to the statue, she could have sworn it was at a different angle than before, but shook her head. Statues didn’t move.

 

Right?

 

“Find something?” the Doctor asked hopefully. She had been feeling the foreboding he felt for a while and she knew he just wanted to get out of the mansion. She did too. For all their joking earlier, the place really was incredibly creepy. Knowing that there was a fixed event there didn’t help. She took a step into the room. 

 

“Yeah, it’s a statue. Funny thing is, I could have swore it was just-” she glanced back at the statue, and jumped back, screaming. She hit the door frame with her shoulder painfully and winced. The statue wasn’t a statue. It was just in front of her, its arm stretched out toward her. It was just standing there, though, not moving anymore, and Rose wondered why that was. 

 

“Rose!” the Doctor called. “Don’t-” 

 

She never heard the rest of what he had to say, because her world went black, and topsy-turvy.

 

##############

 

The Doctor walked out of one room and toward Rose, who’d been right ahead of him.

 

“Doctor?” Rose called. 

 

“Find something?” the Doctor wondered, hoping she had and they could get a move on. He felt a very strong sense of foreboding, and knew Rose felt it too. 

 

She stepped all the way into the room. “Yeah, it’s a statue. Funny thing is, I could have swore it was just-” she said, then screamed. He heard a thump and Rose started backing out of the room. 

 

His mind analyzed everything in one tenth of a second. Temporal disturbance. A statue that moved. A weeping angel.

 

“Rose! Don’t blink!” he called as he stepped forward to pull her back, but he was too late. For the third time, he watched her disappear before his eyes. 

 

His lunge brought him right in front of the angel, who had its face uncovered. It had Rose’s TARDIS key in one of its hands and was smiling softly. That only added to his fury. He took his sonic screwdriver out of his pocket. As long as he was looking at it, the angel was just stone, he could vibrate the molecules of the statue and destroy it thoroughly, he hoped.

 

Then he’d find his Rose. 

 

He pointed his sonic at the angel and was just about to start when he saw another one out of the corner of his eye. He backed up so he could use all of his peripheral vision and saw another one that had been sneaking up on him. 

 

He was trapped. There was no way he could take out all three, and he didn’t dare get himself taken by a different angel. He’d never find Rose then. 

 

There was only one thing to do. He put his sonic back in his pocket. and carefully walked forward, trying to keep all three angels in sight. He reached out and touched one of the angel’s fingertips, took a deep breath, and, in the hope that this would work and he’d land where she landed, he closed his eyes. 

 

The world lurched. He caught a glimpse of the Vortex just long enough to register it, then it was gone and he was on his knees in the middle of a street. 

 

His head pounded and he felt like he was going to be sick. He hated traveling without a capsule. If it was this bad for him, a Time Lord, he imagined it was much worse for Rose, a human. Well mostly human. 

 

With that thought, he straightened up and looked around him. Rose was nowhere to be seen. 


	31. Alone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for your reviews, favorites, and whatnot. We're both so happy with the reception this story has gotten!

Rose was nowhere to be seen. Worse yet, the telepathic connection that they had was ominously empty in his mind. Missing both the connection of his old time ship and the link to Rose that he'd gotten quite used to all at once was jarring.

Instead of asking someone as he would usually do, the Doctor walked over to a nearby newsstand that he'd seen. He picked up a paper and looked at the headline.

27th of May, 1969, the date read and he was in London. Great, stuck in 1969, thirty-eight years from his ship, and there was no sign of his fiancée. Had one of the other angels gotten him instead? Something about the date was triggering a memory, but he couldn't quite recall what it was about.

"You gonna pay for that?" the newsstand agent asked, pulling him out of his thoughts.

"Um, no, I was just checking the date," he replied. He laid the paper back on the top of the pile and moved on down the road, thinking.

For once, he didn't know what to do. He couldn't go to UNIT because he would be there in approximately six months, and the Brigadier hadn't known about regeneration when he showed up with white hair and a penchant for velvet. In fact, he didn't really have anyone that would know him on Earth at this point. Susan was nearly two hundred years in the future, and Ian and Barbara didn't know anything about regeneration.

"Stuck in 1969. Wait a minute, stuck in 1969?" he spoke to himself, remembering. "Thank you, Sally Sparrow!" he shouted and reached deep into his pocket for the purple folder she had given him.

The Doctor flipped through the papers inside. There were photographs and letters regarding a few other people that had been affected by the Weeping Angels as well. It seemed like there might be enough here to have some help getting back to the TARDIS and… hang on, there was a transcript. It seemed to be a conversation through a DVD that Sally had watched and he would be recording. The part that had him reeling was the fact that Rose had a part in it. He read through the conversation that had been transcribed, discovering that he would be without his Rose for about two weeks. Apparently, the Angel wasn't sending its victims back to exactly the same point in time.

"At least for her, it'll be instantaneous. I'll just have to be prepared when she gets here, then. Let's see what else you've got for me here, Sally," he mumbled to himself as he shuffled through the rest of the papers, working out exactly how this particular circular paradox would complete. From the looks of it, he and Rose would be here for a while even after she joined him, as they waited for Billy Shipton to arrive as well. He would be the one to get their video message onto the DVDs that would capture Sally's attention.

After analyzing all of the information in the folder, the Doctor decided that he would wait for Rose before doing the rather fun work involved in the completing their part of the paradox. They'd have plenty of time for it after all, and being stuck here, the pair of them were quite likely to get bored quickly. In the meantime, he supposed that he could arrange for a place for them to stay while they were stuck. Cashpoints weren't around yet, so his sonic was out for getting money that way, but he did have his psychic paper, so going into a bank wouldn't cause a problem.

It didn't take him long to acquire some spending money, secure a flat for them, and stock the cupboards with groceries. He was rather proud of himself. The Doctor really wasn't one for doing domestic, but after everything Rose had done for him while he was human recently, he decided that he could do this for her. She would arrive to a perfectly comfortable flat, while they worked together on completing the tasks that would get them back home to their beloved TARDIS.

Two weeks? He had done all of this on his first day here. His voice from the transcript was right, this would be the longest two weeks of his lives.

##########

By the end of the second day, he'd made a detector for cronon particles given off by time travel. He'd used a tape deck, a telephone, a clock, a lunchbox, several gauges, and some odd and ends from his pockets, which still had all of the things from The Market in them.

He'd been making some eggs while adjusting some settings on what he was now calling his Timey Wimey Detector. The name came from the transcript of the odd conversation he'd not yet had. The eggs exploded, making an enormous mess. He muttered to himself about it while he cleaned up and wound up just getting takeout.

That night, he'd taken his new detector out and roamed the streets of London. Maybe he could find others who were in the wrong time. Of course, that went horribly wrong when he went past someone's micro farm. One of the hens exploded and the rest of the fowl took off, making a racket. He flinched and looked around to make sure that no one had seen that, then took off.

"I'm glad Rose didn't see that," he said to himself as soon as he was out of sight, then immediately felt sick. He had to remind himself that Rose could have been the one sent to an earlier time or they could have been separated further.

##########

On the third day, he went shopping, not for himself, but because Rose would need an outfit when she arrived. After that, she could get whatever she needed.

He told the ladies in the shop that he was buying his fiancée a present. They asked her size, but the Doctor didn't know the sizing system for women's clothing, so gave them her measurements. The girls snickered a bit. The snickering almost turned into laughter when he got to her breast size and he didn't quite understand why. When he asked, they said that Rose was a lucky lady.

He liked to think so, but really, he was the lucky one. He'd told them so, and they both held their hands over their hearts and sighed.

He was almost back to the little flat with his purchase before he realized why they were snickering. Him knowing her measurements that well suggested they were intimate. And humans, particularly those of the so called Western countries, tended to sexualize breasts.

He shook his head. Humans and their sexuality. Then again, Rose did like it when he played with her nipples.

###########

By the end of the fourth day, he was fit to be tied. He didn't know what to do with himself. He could go exploring, but he knew London in the time very well, having been sent there in exile.

###########

On the fifth day, he took to wandering the streets, looking for trouble of the non-human variety. He didn't get to take care of anything alien, but he had saved a kitten from some boys, then handed the creature, who was cute when it was young, to a little girl who was crying and thanking him for saving her Sylvester.

He just hoped its descendents weren't nuns.

###########

On the sixth day, he found an invasion. Welll, he said it was an invasion, really, it was an occupation. The Alplo were already on Earth and had been for well over two years, but because they sort of looked like humans with a third copy of the twenty-first chromosome, also known as Down's Syndrome, they were treated as such and had decided to revolt.

The Doctor talked them down and explained that humans in this time weren't able to understand, but he could take them somewhere where they'd be accepted and able to get work as soon as his motor was back.

When asked how long it would take, he told them that he didn't know. He had something he had to do first before he'd get picked up, but he promised he'd pick them up and not abandon them in the meantime.

############

On the tenth day, his Timey Wimey Detector went ding, and his first thought was Rose, but it was too early. There were still five days to go, possibly. After chasing down the Chronon particles, he'd discovered a Time Agent. His Vortex manipulator had shorted out and he'd bounced to 1969 instead of 1820. When the Doctor introduced himself, including his hard earned rank and asked what he planned to do in 1820, the Time agent told him that there was some offworld technology that had shown up and they needed to take care of it before it killed the wrong person.

The Doctor approved and fixed the man's Vortex manipulator.

Before he left, the Time Agent, who'd given his name as Donald, thanked him profusely and asked him if he needed any help with what he was doing in 1969.

He was a good kid, the Doctor thought after he disappeared.

############

If he thought he'd been fit to be tied on the fourth day, he was wrong. On the twelfth day, he really was. Any point from then on, Rose could show up, so he couldn't get into projects unless they were of the life and death that wasn't supposed to happen sort. Well, he could get into things, he supposed, but he wouldn't.

He hadn't said exactly two weeks. It could have been a generalization of the kind linear humans appreciated or he'd just said it because he'd already said it.

############

On the thirteenth day, a dinging sound rang out. He'd jumped up and grabbed the Detector, thinking automatically that it had went off. He was wrong. It was just the doorbell. He'd been wound up so tight, that he took a ringing for a dinging. After he'd sent the door to door salesman away, he took his detector and started walking around the city, just for something to do.

############

Fourteen days after getting stuck in 1969, he was, metaphorically speaking, a bundle of nerves. It was today, it had to be, it couldn't be longer, could it? Oh, he hoped it wasn't longer and that two weeks meant two weeks.

As he was weighing the pros and cons of walking around town versus just staying where he was, the Timey Wimey Detector dinged.

"Yes!" he shouted and ran out the door. He then promptly ran back in and grabbed the time particle detecting gadget, really glad Rose hadn't been there to see that.

Half an hour of following particles later, he saw a flash of blue light and a blonde woman with dark roots showing and a blue leather jacket fall to her hands and knees.

He grinned. Right on time, there she was. At the same moment she appeared, he could feel her. That realization made him giddy. Their bond was very strong.

"Rose!" he shouted happily

############

Rose felt her stomach lurch and collapsed onto the pavement. Wait, pavement? Hadn't she been inside that creepy house? Where was she?

"Rose! Rose! Finally!" she heard the Doctor shouting from a distance, but getting closer as she fought to open her eyes. Her head was pounding, and she didn't want to move, but she knew she had to.

The Doctor's joyous shouting got a bit louder, and the sound of his trainers slapping the pavement was almost in time to the thumping in her head. She opened her eyes and found herself kneeling on the edge of the road, right in front of a parked car. The footsteps stopped, and she felt hands on her, helping her to stand up.

"Doctor?" she mumbled, looking up into his eyes. The headache had already started to dissipate, which she was grateful for.

"I was starting to feel like you'd never get here, love. Just stay there for a moment. It'll pass," he instructed as he wrapped his arms around her supportively. "Well, I knew you would be here soon, but the instructions didn't specify an exact date, place, or time, so I had to build this. It's a Timey Wimey Detector. It goes ding when there's stuff. I've been running it like crazy to get a reading on you as soon as you got here. There was a buildup of chronon particles in this area over the past half hour, so I figured it was probably a sign that you'd be here soon."

"Hang on. Half hour? Doctor, I just saw you a few seconds ago when I was telling you about those creepy statues at the Scooby Doo house. What are you on about?" Rose questioned, rubbing her head as she tried to process his rambling.

"They aren't statues. Well, they are and they aren't, really. They're stone when any living thing is looking at them, but the moment you look away or blink, then they can move. They feed on temporal energy, sending their victims into the past and feeding off of the potential of all the days that you would have lived. Thankfully, we have instructions on how to get ourselves back," he explained.

"The past?" she asked for clarification. "Oh, I need to sit down," she said. The two of them went over to a nearby large potted plant and sat on the edge of it. "Now tell me. When are we?"

"It's the 10th of June, 1969," He answered. "And I'm sorry, but we're thirty-eight years away from the TARDIS, so, we're kinda stuck here for now."

"Stuck together, though," Rose pointed out automatically before she realized how long he had said. "That long, huh? Wow, when we get back to the TARDIS, I'll be-" She tried to do the math in her head quickly. it was very simple addition, but she was still a bit in shock from her unexpected journey. At least her headache was almost gone. "Old."

"You'll still be twenty-one, maybe twenty-two," the Doctor told her. "It's going to take a bit to get back, but not that long." She felt his amusement at her vanity. "Only a couple of months."

"How are you, of all people, so calm about this?" she queried.

"I've had some time to get used to it," the Doctor responded. "Alone," he added. "Feeling better?"

"Yeah. How long have you been here?" Rose wondered. He'd seemed awfully extra happy to see her.

"Two weeks, but I've kept busy," he told her. "Come on, I'll tell you what I've been up to while we go back to the flat."

"The flat? You've got a flat?" she asked.

"Oh, yeah." He pulled her up and started walking, holding her hand, and telling her what he'd gotten up to over the two weeks he'd been waiting.

When they got to the building the flat was in, an old lady stopped and looked at the Doctor, Rose, and then their joined hands. "Is this her?" she asked excitedly.

"Yep!" he popped happily.

"Rose, it's nice to meet you. I live next door to you. If you need anything, just let me know!" She then turned to the Doctor and said, "I'm sorry to rush off, John, but I've got to run some errands. See you soon!"

When the Doctor waved her off, Rose asked, "Getting friendly with the natives?"

"Oh, that's just Beatrice Granger. Nice lady. Gave me cookies for helping her move some furniture the other day." He then led her into the building, where their flat was on the ground floor, all the way back. "Rose Tyler, welcome to our humble abode," he announced as he opened the door with the sonic screwdriver. Rose wondered for a second if the Doctor had lost the key to the place when she remembered that he'd probably left it inside, having no need for it.

She gasped when she saw the inside. It was fully furnished, though she could tell that the furnishings were part of the deal. It was also mostly clean. There were some obvious places where he was working on things, but that was it.

"The Dime Tour," the Doctor spoke. He led her through the small flat, ending with, "And this is the bedroom, which has a bed. A nice, comfy bed, which one could do bed things on." He sat on the edge and bounced on it a little.

"Are you trying to say you might want to use the bed?" Rose grinned with her tongue between her teeth.

"Oh, I'm saying I've been wanting to use this bed with you since I saw you on the street," he confidently replied.

Rose moved forward and straddled him. They'd break that bed in.


	32. Together

Their tasks started with a trip back to the mansion, which he'd forever think of as the Scooby Doo house, to leave a message for Sally Sparrow. She had taken pictures of some of it, and left detailed descriptions of where things were. Once they had painted the ominous message on the wall, they had to put some wallpaper over it so that it wouldn't be painted over. According to the photos, their paper would be covered over again, but at least the paint was still there beneath it all.

They kept a careful eye out for Weeping Angels while they were there, but the aliens were likely only occupying the house in the future. It wasn't abandoned yet, just currently empty. Still, Rose was happy to have that over with so they wouldn't have to go back there.

Sally had included some copies of photos and letters from her friend that had been sent back, but there was nothing to indicate that they needed to contact her. Knowing that she seemed to have found a happy life where she ended up was nice, so they left well enough alone in her case.

The other tasks that they needed to complete were building the equipment to record their video message and meeting up with Billy Shipton whenever he got there to give him his assignment. They didn't have a specific time frame for that, but from the transcript, it was likely to be a few months.

"Where did you get all this money from, Doctor? It's not like you to carry money. Did you pawn something from your pockets?" Rose questioned as they strolled back to their flat from their second trip to the electronics store. It was a few days after she arrived.

"Nah, just went to the bank with the psychic paper," he replied casually.

"You what?" she asked and pulled him to a stop.

The Doctor rubbed the back of his neck nervously. Was she upset? "Is that? Is there something wrong, Love?"

"Well, unless you've got a legitimate account in this time, Doctor, that's stealing," she informed her alien fiancé with her hands on her hips. Yeah, she was upset with him.

"All the times I've saved them them and probably will save in just the next couple of months, they can spare enough to get us through until we're back to our-" He stopped speaking when she just raised an eyebrow at him. "Well, what else was I supposed to do? We use the psychic paper and the sonic all the time to get money or stay somewhere, and you don't balk at it."

"Usually, we're only somewhere for a day or two and I agree with you, but this time, it's months. If you keep doing that, you're gonna get caught," she told him. She then narrowed her eyes. "Are you using the psychic paper to pay for the flat too?"

"No!" he denied. "I hand Complaining Catherine real money." Rose snorted at that and he knew she wasn't properly mad at him anymore. Ticked was a real possibility, though, maybe peeved, or annoyed, but not really mad. "What was I supposed to do? The folder says we got a flat," he defended himself.

She shook her head, gave a theatrical, long suffering sigh, and started walking back to the flat. "Well, we can't keep stealing from banks," she said in a low voice when he drew up next to her. "One of us is going to have to get a job, so I guess I'll go out tomorrow and try to find work that pays well enough to keep the flat, cause I don't see you doing well with a boss," she poked.

"Oi! I could get a job. I'd be brilliant at a job," he argued.

"I see you more as a freelancer," Rose claimed. "Something where you didn't have to take orders."

"I've had a job before," the Doctor told her.

"UNIT," she spoke. He was shocked for a moment before he remembered that she'd come across the organization and her ex, Mr. Mickey, had told her that he'd worked for them.

"Yep," he affirmed, popping the 'p.'

"You did whatever you wanted, though, didn't you?" Rose knowingly accused.

"Pretty much," he admitted as he opened the door to the building they were staying in. Rose laughed at that.

#############

Inside, they worked on the autocue together. Rose loved working with the Doctor making a contraption. It was a bit of their normal life that she was glad to have.

Once it was finished (except for a bit of glass that they'd both forgotten somehow), they cuddled up on the couch and watched _The Sky at Night_ , partially because it was the only thing on the telly that was even remotely interesting and partially because watching a show on astronomy with a Time Lord was entertaining. Almost as entertaining as watching a show about a major historical event with the same Time Lord, who'd actually been there.

The next morning, Rose was woken by the Doctor, who had pounced on the bed and shaken her. When she groaned and rolled over, he immediately immediately tickled her. "Oh, oh, hahaha, Stop," Rose cried out. She shoved at him and he relented. "Why're you torturing me?" she whined and put her head under the pillow.

The Doctor lifted the pillow off of her head and told her, "You said to wake you up at eight o' clock. Guess what time it is?"

"Four and some change," she groaned petulantly.

"Okay, then, if you won't come out, I'm coming in," he warned. Rose just lifted the cover in invitation. "Is that how you wanna play it?" he asked.

"Oh, yes," Rose responded and the Doctor dove under the covers. The couple's giggles quickly turned into moans of pleasure.

Later, Rose stepped out of the building wearing the brightly printed tunic and flare legged pants the Doctor had gotten her before she arrived. The style was just becoming normal in that time for a woman her age. She hopped on the nearest double decker and rode it for the fairly short ride to the largest cluster of shops in London. While she had no desire to work in a shop again, she figured that it would be the quickest way to get work for however long they were going to be staying there.

She stood there, close to the end of the street, looking down at the row of shops and trying to decide if she should go to the shops that had signs out stating they were hiring first, go into each one in order, or cherry pick the ones she thought would be better to work in and go from there.

She'd decided to go with those shops that had signs out first. She figured that she'd probably have more luck that way. With a deep breath, she straightened her posture and walked into the first shop that had a sign stating they were hiring.

And less than a minute later, she walked right back out. It was a shop of clothing and accessories for mature women, and she'd been met with disapproving looks. She probably wouldn't have gotten a job there anyway, so there was no sense in trying to work in a place where she knew she'd be miserable.

The next shop she walked into was a men's clothing store. She'd been told that she could come back the next day for a proper interview. She wrote the store and time on a little scrap of paper, but decided she'd only go back if she didn't have something better by the end of the day. The manager had leered at her, and while she could take care of herself and was used to leering, she wasn't going to invite a close work experience with someone who did so.

That was one of the many things she loved about the Doctor, she had never caught him leering at her. Not with her clothes on anyway. She'd catch him staring at her sometimes over the years they'd traveled together, but he'd always appeared as if he were daydreaming and could have been thinking anything.

The third shop was a toy shop. She'd talked to a shop girl in there, and got another interview, but it was also marked with a dot on her list like the men's clothing store had been. She wasn't the most patient when it came to kids, but maybe, with it being a store and each kid not being there for long, she could handle it. Maybe.

The fourth shop sold clothing for people her age. She saw a copy of the tunic she wore on a dummy and knew that this had to be where the Doctor had gotten her top. She walked out of there with another interview set up, right at the same time as the men's clothing store. She wouldn't be going there anyway.

The fifth shop she walked into was a candy store. She'd had an interview on the spot with the manager who'd had his day clear for interviews and a block free before lunch. He told her that she could come in the next day and see if she got the job.

At the sixth and seventh shop, they took one look at her after she'd spoken and she immediately knew she wasn't going to work in collectibles or perfumes, which was fine with her. She didn't want to work somewhere where they were stuck up to people with a Cockney accent anyway.

She avoided all of the restaurants, at least on the first go. It was a job, but working for tips wasn't her first choice. Shireen had worked as a waitress once, and Rose had seen how she was treated.

Once she'd collected three interviews for the next day, on top of the one she'd already had at the candy store, she called it quits and went back to the flat. Before she could even touch the door, it opened.

"Hey, you're back!" the Doctor exclaimed, and Rose knew he'd been bored all day. "Any luck?"

"I have three interviews for tomorrow and had one today," she told him as she stepped through the door.

"Oh, that's good," he replied, nodding a little. "Is that good?"

"Compared to what I went through looking for work in the twenty-first century, it's excellent," she answered.

Rose noticed several papers with the Doctor's circular scribbles on them covering the kitchen table. "What's all this, then?" Rose wondered. The Doctor immediately went to the papers and stacked them up.

"Just some calculations," the Doctor said quickly and Rose wondered what he was trying to hide.

She found out that she'd gotten the job at the Frick's, the candy shop. She also could have worked at the toy shop, but she turned it down. The candy shop might still have kids, but they didn't hang out there like they would at the toy store.

She started her new job two days later. She'd woken up with plenty of time to get ready, but the Doctor nearly made her late when he just couldn't wait to fix the blinking light in the bathroom.

Once he was finished, Rose finally got her shower. When she was almost ready to go, she found the Doctor in the little kitchen, putting something into a paper bag. He held it out to her.

"I made you lunch," he said. Rose took the bag and raised her eyebrow at him.

"Who are you, and what have you done with my domestic phobic Doctor?" she asked suspiciously.

"I was just trying to help," he explained. "I know you didn't want to work at a shop again, and you're stuck here because of-"

"Doctor, you daft alien. We're stuck here because of those Angels," she chided him.

"Still, I promised you that there'd always be a different ground beneath your feet, and we were just in one place for a couple of months, plus we'll be stuck here for who knows how long."

"Yeah, but we're stuck together," Rose told him. She then kissed him and left for her new job.

The first day was long. She had to learn everything about the job, then take inventory. It wasn't a hard job, but despite all of the running she was accustomed to, she wasn't used to being on her feet for so many hours in a stretch.

She collapsed on the sofa with a sigh and shut her eyes, just for a moment. Rose nearly jumped in surprise when she felt the Doctor grasp one of her feet and pull it up into his lap to start massaging it. She groaned in relief.

"You're hired. Best foot massager in the universe," she told him and shifted so that both of her feet were in his lap.

The Doctor chuckled at her. "Was it that bad?" he asked, switching to rub her other foot and admiring the way she squirmed while she wasn't looking.

"Not bad really. Long, boring, and I'd rather be running than standing around for hours," she admitted.

"Sounds like torture to me. Maybe I can make it up to you?" he suggested and slid his massage further up her leg. "Any other areas in need of massaging?" The Doctor asked, his voice low and gravelly.

"Mmmm, I can think of a few spots," she told him and reached for the bottom of her shirt to pull it over her head.


	33. Domestics and Plans

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: the caveman bit comes from the 9th Doctor novel Only Human.

 

On Rose's first day at work, the Doctor finished the calculations he'd been running since Rose had arrived. He could have had this done several days faster in the TARDIS, where he had more thorough equipment. But that was the point, he didn't have his beloved ship.

He'd been scanning Rose when she was sleeping and running calculations based on that. While a strong reaction to travelling through the Time Vortex without a capsule was common, hers was on the extreme side. Being a frequent traveler through time for so long, and having slightly enhanced biology, she should have had a reaction that was much calmer, so he made sure she was okay.

That concern had vanished, though. Rose was definitely one hundred percent A-Okay. So much so that it was possible that her expected life span had increased. It wasn't much, just a couple of years. He'd check it over again when they got back to the TARDIS and he had better equipment. Until then, he wouldn't tell Rose. He didn't want to get her hopes up or her worrying over nothing.

It gave him an idea, though. He'd been trying to come up with a way- any way to keep her from going under the Arch, but still stay with him. Maybe there was something to do with time. Maybe the changes to her physiology were the key, not the Arch, despite what the Face of Boe had said. There was no way a human could survive that for long enough to change. Time Lords could only survive it because their bodies were made for changing.

He sighed, threw the papers down on the little table, and sat back. Really, he shouldn't be entertaining the thought of giving her a longer life just to keep her by his side. His people would have forcibly regenerated him- again over his impulses with Rose.

And the long life was a curse. If he were a better man, he wouldn't consider doing what he was considering doing to her. He'd never give serious thought to putting her through torture like that.

But he wasn't a better man. He was selfish and so, so tired of being alone. He'd take everything she could give him.

He felt her just then, a burst of happiness and knew that she'd be arriving soon. He'd been feeling her stronger emotions, mostly little bits of annoyance all day. Their bond had become strong, and it wouldn't be long before they would be capable of deliberately contacting one another. It was wonderful, to know, without any doubt, that Rose was perfectly fine without having to think about it.

He cleaned up the mess from his lunch and his papers before she got back. It wouldn't do to have her see his papers again and ask what he was doing. He didn't know for sure if his calculations were correct yet, and he didn't want to lie to her.

When Rose came through the door, she looked tired and immediately kicked her shoes off before she dropped to the couch, sitting diagonally with her stocking covered legs hanging off and her back in the corner. She leaned her head back, and the Doctor deliberately reached out, trying to get a sense of what he could do to help.

It was so simple, her feet hurt. That was easily helped with pressure point therapy. He sat down next to her and grabbed a leg so he could put her foot in his lap. She stiffened for a second at the unexpected gesture before she realized what he was doing and relaxed. As he hit the various pressure points on her foot, she moaned a little, enjoying what he was doing.

"You're hired. Best foot massager in the universe," she said and put her other foot in his lap. The Doctor immediately went to work on the other foot, massaging the day away. He chuckled at her proclamation. He wasn't the best in the universe, not even close. That title probably belonged to the Nastafary of Keplern, but he'd let her think that if it meant she'd want him to do her massages.

"Was it that bad?" he asked.

"Not bad really. Long, boring, and I'd rather be running than standing around for hours," she admitted. She'd relaxed, and he could feel a bit of lust coming from her. It wasn't surprising. He'd learned from his time as a human that Rose found a good massage to be erotic.

"Sounds like torture to me. Maybe I can make it up to you?" He moved his hands up her calves, under the pretense of the massage. Almost immediately, he could not only feel her arousal, but smell it as well. "Any other areas in need of massaging?" he asked seductively, giving up the pretense of this just being a massage.

"Mmmm," she moaned. "I can think of a few spots." She then grabbed the hem of her shirt and went to take it off, but he stopped her by putting his hand over one of hers. He felt her confusion.

"Patience," he chided her. At her answering groan, he moved his hands under her skirt, up to her knees. At that point, he had to shift so he could reach farther. After he got to his knees, he slid his hands further up her legs, exceedingly glad that she'd worn a skirt that day. With her help, he removed her stockings and knickers in one go.

"Ah, now who's being impatient," Rose teased.

"Who says I'm being impatient? Maybe I'm just being thorough," he countered. He spread her legs just a bit and ran his hand up the inside of her thighs slowly while he watched her shiver with anticipation. "I want you to be thoroughly massaged."

He had planned on stopping just before he got to where she wanted him and moving this to the bedroom, where he'd strip her down, but one of the many things he'd learned from his time as a human was that Rose liked to be taken while still mostly clothed sometimes. She liked the spontaneity behind it. With that in mind, instead of stopping, he rubbed his thumb over her slit, feeling the moisture there. Rose whimpered a little, spreading her legs further. This was going to be fun.

"Oh, feel that. Those Kegel muscles are so tight," he told her, pretending to feel her. Rose gasped. "Those are going to need a good rub down." He slid a finger inside, and Rose arched a little. He pressed his other palm to her lower belly over the skirt, holding her still while he fingered her. She reached down and held the hand on her as he added another finger inside.

"Oh, oh, that feels so good. Doctor, I love you," she whispered when she had started to get close. He knew. Oh, how he knew.

"I love you too, my beautiful Rose," he whispered before he tried to duck his head under her clothing as well. He wound up pushing her skirt up, but that was fine. He ran his tongue over her, tasting her arousal. Instantly, her hand clenched on his, and her other hand went to his hair. It wasn't long before those kegel muscles clenched down on his fingers, the hand in his hair pulled a little, and she was crying out his chosen name.

Rose Tyler in bliss was his second favorite look on her. The only thing better was Rose Tyler in bliss and under him.

He licked her through her orgasm as he unzipped his trousers. He then crawled up her body and kissed her before he lined himself up and entered her warmth.

##########

"Pretty sure the neighbors heard us," Rose said after they were finished and cuddling. The Doctor was drawing on her back absentmindedly again. Between that, his slight purring, and hearing his double heartbeat, Rose was getting quite sleepy.

"Let 'em," the Doctor replied. "Anyone with even half a brain would have put it together that we were doing this anyway. Half of them probably think we're married, and of the other half, let those who would be offended do so." One thing she didn't like about post sex discussion is that speaking stopped the deep rumbling noise he made when content.

Rose looked down at her hand, where the ring that the Doctor had given her when he proposed human style sat on her finger. "Well, we are engaged, and bonded," she commented.

"Mmmhmmm," he murmured in agreement and gave her a little squeeze. The purring sound started again. She didn't want to stop the sound again, but she had to. He'd proposed to her nearly three months before, and then, there was nothing. Granted, he'd spent two of those months believing they were already married, but still, she needed something else.

Before she could ask, though, he sensed her inner turmoil and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong," she denied. "I was wondering, though. How did your people do weddings?" The hand on her back stilled, and she worried that she might have broken their mood.

"Like they did almost everything else: long and terminally boring," the Doctor replied. When Rose lifted her head and looked at him incredulously, he chuckled. "I never did fit in there. Now, the people who never went to the Time Lord Academy, they did wonderful, heartfelt weddings." He had that same look in his eye as he did when describing the land he grew up on. "The ceremony itself was a handfasting, and was quite beautiful."

"What's a handfasting?" Rose questioned. The only weddings she knew were like her parents, or entirely alien.

"You have a ribbon or a strip of cloth, and each person takes one end and wraps it around their hand," he explained. "It's symbolic of the link between them. Other than that, it proceeds much like the human weddings you've been to. "

"I've seen that before," she realized. "Just a few months ago."

"The royal joining we watched on Jaleri," the Doctor confirmed. "Except they also wore the koorkra. That's the crazy double hat." Rose giggled. That thing was ridiculous. It looked like two beanie hats joined by a pair of streamers. "The thing with the Gallifreyan wedding, though was that the couple did not agree to it during the ceremony. The parents or family were the ones to agree."

"The arranged marriages," Rose remembered.

"Yeah," he replied. "Almost every marriage among Time Lords was arranged, but maybe a quarter of them were among the rest of the populace."

"I've never understood how people think arranging two other people to spend the rest of their lives together is a good thing," Rose commented.

"Cold logic," the Doctor replied. "Every sentient race has had arranged marriages at some point, and there's always a logical reason behind it. Usually money, but often genetics and politics as well." He smiled at her and added, "There's something to be said for marrying for love."

His words reminded something he'd said while they were traveling with Jack. "You once told me that marrying for love was overrated," she accused.

"You were being forced into a marriage of your own. And running away wasn't an option at the time. I was trying to reassure you as much as myself," he explained. "Besides, I took care of the problem, didn't I?"

"You grabbed me, put me up on a horse, shoved Tillun into the ground, and whispered something in his ear," Rose remembered and the Doctor grinned. "You're supposed to be all superior, and there you were, acting more like a caveman than the caveman!" The Doctor started laughing. The melodious sound was infectious, and Rose was soon laughing with him.

The Doctor then stood up, picked her up, threw her over his shoulder, and carried her to their bed. Rose knew what he was doing and weakly slapped his back, saying, "Unhand me, you brute!" She was laughing too hard for him to think for even a microsecond that she meant it.

The Doctor put her on the bed and covered her body with his. "Mine," he said, just before he kissed her.

##########

A few days into her new job, the Doctor showed up at the candy store. He looked around in delight for a moment before Rose walked out of the back with a box in hand.

"Welcome to Frick's," she greeted before she saw who it was. "Oh. Doctor. What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to see you atwork, plus it's a candy shop!" he exclaimed. Rose put down the box she was carrying on the counter and he saw the name tag she wore. "Oh, they gave you a name tag! Why did they do that?" he wondered. "Is it in case you forget your name? That does happen sometimes, you know." He peeked around to make sure no one was within earshot and told her in a whisper, "One of my previous regenerations went wrong thanks to some anesthesia a well meaning heart surgeon gave me. Lost my memory several times then."

Rose smiled and shook her head. He saw a candy dish with samples in it, picked one out, unwrapped it, and popped it in his mouth. "True story, you know," he said around the caramel.

"Oi! You! There's scoops for a reason," Rose called over his shoulder. He spun around and saw a flaxen haired boy looking guilty. He dropped the sweet into a white wax paper bag and used the scoop to get more.

When her attention was on the boy, the Doctor swiped a couple more candies from the bowl and put them in the pocket that held his sonic. "Kids, eh?"

"You're no better. I saw you. Those samples are meant for customers," she chided him before she walked around the counter to check out the boy.

Fine by him, as she was checking out the boy, he swiped another sample and put it in his mouth. It was banana flavored, and he immediately went searching for the bin where the candy was kept. He got a bag of the banana candies and some jelly babies he'd seen. When he dropped the wax paper bags on the counter in front of Rose, she looked down at it, then back up at him incredulously.

"That is the last thing you need," Rose told him. He just grinned at her. "Alright, then. Don't eat it all at once." She rung it up and made him pay for it with some of the leftover money from the bank.

When he went to leave, he swiped another candy from the bowl. "Oi! You've got enough candy, Mister," she admonished him. He turned around to wave cheekily, and another candy she'd tossed at him went right in his hand. He closed it immediately and pretended he'd meant to do that.

"Ta," he teased and ducked out the door before something heavier came his way.

##########

"Where should we get married, love?" the Doctor asked softly as he played with her hair. It was Rose's first day off from working in the candy store and they both planned to spend it together.

"I don't know. Somewhere warm, maybe gardens or something. That'd be pretty, yeah?" she suggested.

He hummed in reply and kissed her shoulder. "I'll have to make a list. We can visit a few places before we decide," he told her, pulling her back against him.

"Is there anyone you'd like to be there, Doctor? Sarah Jane or any of your other friends?" Rose wondered.

"I don't think so, no. You understand why I don't go back, right? It's just too painful, like with Sarah Jane," he responded.

"Yeah, s'pose. As long as you don't see them, they're just the way you left them?" she guessed, knowing how hurt Sarah had been about waiting for him to come back and take her on another trip for years. Going back to a normal life would be awful after travelling in the TARDIS. Even these few times getting stuck for months was hard enough, but the prospect of never travelling in time and space again, that would be rough, but at least she would still have the Doctor with her. His past friends were on their own.

"Exactly. It's been centuries since I've seen most of them. I'd rather they remember me as I was and they can still be alive as far as I know. Well, most of them," he answered, mumbling the last part sadly.

"Sorry, Doctor, I didn't mean to upset you. This was supposed to be our special day together," she apologized and turned in his arms to face him and added a kiss to her apology.

"Perfectly natural question. Now, how about you?" he asked. "I know you've still got some family and friends."

"Keisha and Jay. They both know about you. Shireen. I haven't seen her in ages. Jack. He has to be there, I want Sarah Jane too. We could pick her up just after we last saw her," she listed, then sighed. "Grams would want to be there. Cousin Mo and Mum's friend Bev would want to be there too. I think that's it."

She wanted her mother there, but knew it wasn't going to happen. Her mother was gone, and there was nothing she could do about it. It hurt to think about. The last time she'd seen her mother, she'd learned she was pregnant. Her mother was okay, though, and in the end, that was all that mattered.

##########

The Doctor knew what Rose was thinking. He didn't even need a bond with her to know she was thinking about how her mother wouldn't be there. He squeezed her from behind and sent her his love. "I'm sorry your mother can't be there for you," he apologized softly.

But in his mind, he started working on a possibility. He wasn't sure, but maybe, just maybe, there'd be a way that Jackie Tyler could attend their ceremony.


	34. Going Home

It had been almost two months since they'd arrived in 1969 when the Doctor's device started beeping. It was exactly what they had been waiting for. Billy Shipton would be arriving soon and they could record that video and get themselves back to the TARDIS. They'd done everything else they needed to do according to Sally's instructions.

Rose was supposed to be heading to work, but she wouldn't need the job anymore now, so she just called in sick for the day. She probably wouldn't ever go back there, but she could at least let her boss know she wasn't coming, no need to be rude.

They spent the next two hours chasing signals on his Timey-Wimey Detector. He got rather nervous when they got close to a small yard with some chickens, but wouldn't tell her why. Rose was sure she'd get that story out of him eventually. When they finally saw the disoriented young man appear, it was just a couple of blocks from where Rose had arrived.

"Welcome," the Doctor greeted when they walked up to him. Billy was sitting against a building where he fell and was holding his head.

"Where am I?" Billy questioned, no doubt wondering what the hell was going on.

"1969. Not bad, as it goes. You've got the moon landing to look forward to," the Doctor answered, trying to show the man a silver lining before he gave him the bad news.

"That's in just a couple of days," Rose told him, As she followed the Doctor over to the other side of the fence that separated them from him. "I know it hurts, Billy, but relax and try to catch your breath."

"How did I get here?" Billy asked.

"The same way we did. The touch of an angel. Same one, probably, since you ended up in the same year," the Doctor babbled.

Billy tried to get up, but, as one, both the Doctor and Rose tried to keep him down.

"No, no. No, no, no, don't get up," the Doctor told him.

"Watch yourself, there. Trust me, you're not ready yet," Rose explained at the same time.

"Time travel without a capsule. Nasty. Catch your breath. Don't go swimming for half an hour," the Doctor advised.

"I couldn't see for a bit, so you're doing quite a bit better than I did," Rose told him.

"I don't. I can't," Billy started.

"Fascinating race, the Weeping Angels. The only psychopaths in the universe to kill you nicely. No mess, no fuss, they just zap you into the past and let you live to death. The rest of your life used up and blown away in the blink of an eye. You die in the past, and in the present they consume the energy of all the days you might have had. All your stolen moments. They're creatures of the abstract. They live off potential energy," the Doctor babbled, looking thoughtful.

"What in God's name are you talking about?" he questioned before he realized something. "And how the hell do you know my name?"

"We got a bit of a heads up from Sally a while back. Don't worry, everything's gonna be just fine," Rose assured him.

"Tracked you down with this," the Doctor said, holding up his detector. "This is my Timey-Wimey Detector. It goes ding when there's stuff. Also, it can boil an egg at thirty paces, whether you want it to or not, actually, so I've learned to stay away from hens. It's not pretty when they blow," he grimaced.

"Is _that_ what you were so nervous about?" Rose gasped. "You blew up a hen?"

"I don't understand. Where am I?" Billy interjected, trying to get answers from the duo.

"We're in London, but we're in the year 1969," Rose explained. "The 14th of July, 1969, actually."

"Normally, I'd offer you a lift home, but somebody nicked my motor. So I need you to take a message to Sally Sparrow. And I'm sorry, Billy. I am very, very sorry. It's going to take you a while," the Doctor admitted.

They brought Billy back to their flat once he was feeling a little better. Showing him around, it was easy to prove what they were saying about when they were. Rose showed him the messages that they got from Sally, outlining his role in the circle of events. Little by little, he seemed accept that this was simply what he would have to deal with. At least his older self seemed to have convinced Sally that he had lived a happy life.

The next day, they finally sat down to do the video, teaching Billy about some of the equipment of that time. He needed to go into the video industry after all.

"Yup. That's me." A pause. "Yes, I do." He kept reading the script out, with a pause for the right amount of time. The transcript had even included the timing for him.

Rose found it rather odd listening to half of a conversation when she wasn't watching the autocue with him to see what he was responding to.

"I'm a time traveller. Or I was. I'm stuck in 1969. I was alone for the first two weeks. Longest two weeks of my lives," he told Sally.

"Stuck again. Seems to be happening a lot lately. I even had to start working in a shop again!" Rose added, not realizing that she was saying exactly what was on the script without even looking at it.

"Rose, you know I didn't want you to. And I'm sorry we're stuck again, I promise, anywhere you want to go after this," he responded to her, looking off camera.

"I know," she sighed and walked behind him, patting his shoulder fondly.

The Doctor continued reading the script again. "Quite possibly." "Afraid so." "Thirty eight," he said as if he were correcting someone. "People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint, it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly, timey-wimey... stuff." He used his hands as a visual aid when trying to describe time.

"What? Seriously? Wibbly Wobbly Timey Wimey?" Rose blurted out. She took a look at the script and saw that it even had her outburst in the background, with a notation that said, "barely heard."

"It got away from me, yeah," he sighed, acknowledging that his explanation did sound a bit silly. "Well, I can hear you," he said and paused before continuing with another explanation, "Well, not hear you, exactly, but I know everything you're going to say."

The one sided conversation continued on for some time and Rose snickered when he said wibbly wobbly timey wimey again. Finally, they came to the end of the script.

"The blue box, it's my time machine. There is a world of time energy in there they could feast on forever, but the damage they could do could switch off the sun. You have got to send it back to me." There was one more short pause before he read off the last bit of the script. "And that's it, I'm afraid. There's no more from you on the transcript, that's the last I've got. I don't know what stopped you talking, but I can guess. They're coming. The angels are coming for you. But listen, your life could depend on this. Don't blink. Don't even blink. Blink and you're dead. They are fast. Faster than you can believe. Don't turn your back, don't look away, and don't blink. Good luck."

At that, they recorded a second video that was to be played in the TARDIS and the Doctor wrote out a special program that was to be embedded with the video on the DVDs. It was instructions for the TARDIS and a message for Sally and her friend that would bring the disk into their ship. Almost as soon as they had completed it, they heard the sound of the engines just outside.

Rose jumped into her fiancé's arms with a squeal. The Doctor spun her around happily. When he put her down, Rose grabbed the small bag she'd packed ahead of time, kissed Billy on the cheek in a thank you, and they ran out the doors toward home. They had already arranged for Billy to keep the flat until he got himself established.

As soon as they were through the doors of the time ship, Rose grabbed the coral strut that the Doctor used to hold his coat and hugged it, then gave it a kiss. A couple of lights blinked and she felt an amused hum. The Doctor, who was already at the console chuckled.

"Oh, hush, you," Rose chided him. "You're fondling her." The Doctor looked down at his hand and realized he'd been stroking the edge of the console.

"Am not," he petulantly denied, taking his hand off the coral and starting to flick buttons.

After moving them into the vortex, they decided it was time to enjoy their own version of domestic. Namely, enjoying their sentient timeship for a while. The pair of them soaked in the whirlpool, splashed around in the pool, chased each other through the butterfly room, and spent an evening throwing popcorn around the media room while a 32nd century remake of Goldfinger played on the screen. James Bond just wasn't the same when his skin was purple, but the Doctor insisted that these were much better versions than the originals.

When Rose snuggled down into their bed, the Doctor settled in with her until she fell asleep. He purred softly as he stroked her hair, allowing the sound to lull her to sleep quickly. He stayed for a few minutes to just watch her and bask in her presence before getting back to work on the things that he didn't want her knowing about. He wasn't lying really, he just wanted to be sure about things before they tried to extend her lifespan, and OK, he did want any attempts at having Jackie at the wedding to be a surprise for her.

He reluctantly slipped out of the warmth of Rose's embrace and went to his jacket, where he'd stashed the swab he'd needed. He collected a sample from her open mouth and found a loose hair with the root intact. Those would be more than enough for his purposes. He left the room to get to work. The sooner he could figure out this solution, the longer her forever might be with him.

He went to the medbay and input his samples into the machines, then reviewed a scan taken of Rose while she was relaxing earlier. The scan itself showed nothing unexpected. There was a little more activity than usual in the Parietal Lobe, which was the seat of her telepathic ability. At the time, she must have been feeling the ship.

He moved onto the actual analysis of her genetics. As expected, she'd been granted a few more years to work with, barring accidents. He explored the possibilities there. Running simulations of several potentialities, he discovered that Rose could indeed live a lot longer through direct fusions of artron energies. But it would be extremely painful, take a lot of treatments for little reward each time, and he wasn't completely sure what changes her body would go through.

He was back to the Chameleon Arch again. He didn't like it, not at all. It'd be incredibly painful for a very long time, and that was if she survived it. He'd have given it up ages ago, not long after Rose had suggested it, except for what the Face of Boe said.

" _But know this, Time Lord. For the answers you will seek, the Arch is the key,"_ were the dying words of a being who had seen the beginning and end of so much. No one knew how old he was, but the Doctor knew he was around in the year 200,000 and nearly five billion years later, at the end of the Earth. Both times, he'd been in the era long enough so that everyone knew who he was. The use of his hard earned rank along with the legend of the message of Boe made the Doctor sure that the message was for him.

He'd just have to run through some possibilities.

########

The Doctor was walking toward the console room, feeling giddy, when he came across a sleep tousled Rose making her way toward the galley. She hadn't noticed him yet, and he watched her step into a door that had popped up suddenly. The ship had moved the galley a bit closer for her favorite human.

He'd been at the simulations all night, relatively speaking. No wonder his stomach grumbled. He followed her into the room and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Morning, Doctor," she said sleepily as she stuck the kettle under the tap.

"Morning, Rose." He'd given up on the relative morning thing. For Rose, morning was when she woke up.

"Remember those aliens we met in London. Janto and Nylaha and the lot. We're gonna go help them, yeah?" Rose asked without turning around. "What were they called? Aplo? Nice folks."

"Alplo," the Doctor corrected automatically. "They landed on Earth as refugees. I did promise." He sighed, not wanting to go back to that time, again, but knowing he needed to.

After eating a quick breakfast and getting ready for the day, they went to the console room and the Doctor and Rose both piloted the ship back to 1969, where they met up with Alpha Nylaha. He gathered the group together and, quite quickly, the lot, about thirty in all, were in the console room of the TARDIS, looking around in awe as the Doctor pulled up information on three possible locations to send the group. He was just going to drop them off somewhere, but Rose made him give them choices.

Watching the group make their choice was interesting. They voted on major choices. Alpha Nylaha was the leader, but that only entitled him to have his vote counted twice in the tally, which would make a tie impossible at their current number. Rose and the Doctor stood by the side and watched as Nylaha, with his daughter, who had been referred to as Alpha Paela, wrapped around his leg, explained their choices and the group voted in two rounds, each round eliminating one possibility.

The Doctor and Rose took the group to their choice destination: an uninhabited planet without a name in their time and he smiled knowingly when they called it Nolmatanar, which meant, "coming home."

The pair slipped away quietly during the flurry of activity.

#########

"So, Doctor, we've spent some time for ourselves in our marvellous time ship. Where should we go next?" Rose questioned, hugging him from behind as he stood at the console.

"Well, we do still need to visit the places I've noted you might like for when we get married. Narrow down the list a bit. But, the TARDIS needs a bit of pampering herself. Her time with the Angels was stressful for her. I think it might be time for a little refuelling trip," he told her as he spun around to return the embrace.

"Cardiff?" she asked with a smirk, remembering their adventure there before he regenerated.

"Cardiff. Care to help me fly her there?" he replied with a quick kiss.

"Allons-y!" Rose shouted and threw the first switch.


	35. An Old Friend

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OK, another moment here where we toss canon away. Bye Bye! *Blasts the canon with a cannon.*
> 
> You've all been so awesome. Love the reviews!

The Doctor was on the other side of the console when Rose saw the monitor change. The symbols she knew were coordinates shifted.

" _I knew it,"_ she thought to the ship. " _You do change the coordinates."_ She received a telepathic shrug and the feeling that it wasn't always the case. " _What are you up to, Sweetheart?"_ she asked as she adjusted the next control in the flight sequence.

Suddenly, she had a feeling much like the one she had just before they got stuck in 1969. A feeling of a tightened string being plucked. It was faint, like it was far off, and the Doctor didn't appear to be affected by it. " _Was that you?"_ Rose questioned the TARDIS, and knew instantly that it was. Whatever was going on, Rose knew the ship didn't like it.

The shaking of the ship stopped, and the Doctor pulled the monitor over to him. "Ahh, Cardiff. Just lemme get those engines opened up and... That's funny. I swore I'd set that for three years from now. Oh well, doesn't matter. Ooh, the Rift's been active. This won't take long at all."

"Chips?" Rose suggested before he could go into one of his rambles.

"Well, maybe we could go somewhere else?" he replied, glancing nervously at the monitor.

"What do you mean? We have to go exploring, Doctor," she said, tugging him down the ramp by the hand.

"But the refuel will only take a minute and there are even better chips on Majoris II. Wouldn't you rather go there instead?" he practically pleaded.

"Those chips are purple. Besides, we're here already, Doctor," Rose told him, not budging. The TARDIS had changed the coordinates for a reason and she wanted to know why. She would have just told the Doctor what had happened, but got the distinct feeling that she should keep mum about it.

"Oh alright," he acquiesced and allowed himself to be pulled out the doors. Who he had seen on the monitor meant that he would have to face what he had been dreading, likely due to some interference from his sentient and stubborn time ship, which had probably sided with his pink and yellow mostly human-again.

The pair started walking towards a restaurant they had visited last time, hand in hand, Rose lighting up with a beaming smile.

The Doctor could feel him following them. Rose didn't know he was there and the man hadn't announced himself yet, but it wouldn't be long. Perhaps he was just looking for confirmation that he was the Doctor. Their only meeting with him since the regeneration was something he wouldn't remember anyway, so he probably wanted to make sure. Granted, the TARDIS might give him away. He'd just keep quiet about it for the moment and see what Jack was up to.

Rose decided they should sit at the tables outside for their snack and the Doctor sat across from her, intertwining the fingers of the hands not feeding each other greasy chips. Well, it was more that she was eating her chips and he was giving her a few extra, just for the joy of having her occasionally suck the salt off his fingertips.

"What's wrong?" Rose asked when they were almost finished. "You're all...wound up tight," she added, twirling her fingers around in a visual demonstration of her thoughts.

"Nothing's wrong. Everything's A-okay," the Doctor lied.

"Stop it. I can feel you, you know. Liar," she called him out, with an eyebrow raised.

He sighed. She could feel that he was tense and lying. He could feel that she was exasperated by his deflection. Rose knew him all too well. He didn't even know why he bothered trying to hide it any longer.

"You might as well join us, Jack," the Doctor called loudly enough to be sure that the man tailing them could hear.

"Jack?" Rose gasped, looked around, and jumped up as soon as she saw him approaching. "Doctor, you knew he was there and you never said? You've been edgy the whole time we've been here!" she accused.

"Well," he began, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Rosie!" Jack called and picked her up in a twirling hug. He gave get a big, smacking kiss before he set her down at the cough the Time Lord made.

"You know what I told you about being around Jack. It's difficult, Love," the Doctor explained, the endearment earning a startled glance from their immortal friend. "Would you mind not kissing my fiancée, Jack?"

"Your what? It's about fucking time!" Jack shouted and turned to hug the Doctor instead. The Time Lord stood there, looking uncomfortable with the other man wrapped around him. Rose felt the suppressed shivers from the Doctor and remembered what he said about Jack being a fixed point in time.

"You knew before we did," Rose teased, knowing that they needed to try and help him get the memories back that had been taken from him. "Is it really that difficult for you, Doctor?" she asked sympathetically.

"I'm trying to filter it out. Would have been impossible at Christmas," he answered.

"What? So you did know about whatever happened to cause this?" Jack questioned, suddenly angry.

Rose looked around at the few people who could see them. A couple were looking right at the spectacle in front of them. "Maybe we should move this to somewhere more private?" she suggested.

"Can't be the TARDIS, who knows how she would react," the Doctor admitted.

"I think I know just the place," Jack told them and started walking back toward Roald Dahl Plass.

"Where are we going?" the Doctor asked, not comfortable when he wasn't in control of the situation.

"My office," Jack replied curtly.

"You? Have an office?" Rose questioned, not believing that their ex-con artist friend would be comfortable in a job that required an office.

They descended in a hidden elevator next to the water sculpture at the center of the Plass. Rose watched in awe as they moved down. Jack's "office" was huge. There were several computers, and some gadgetry she'd never seen before. The space looked well used, and somewhat cluttered, but well maintained.

The lift stopped and the three time travelers got off. The Doctor suddenly noticed a logo that would forever make him cringe. "Torchwood?!" he nearly shouted, pulling Rose against him protectively.

Rose stiffened at the name. "What? But they were- My Mum!"

"So that was the Jacqueline Tyler I saw on the list of the dead," Jack realized. "Oh, Rosie."

"She's not dead!" Rose blurted out. "She's in a parallel world, with Mickey. How could you?"

"And you were a part of it!" the Doctor accused. "I nearly lost Rose forever in that disaster!"

"I swear, Doctor, I had nothing to do with what was going at Torchwood One. We've been fighting their way of doing things. Especially since Canary Wharf," Jack argued.

"Come on, Rose, we're leaving," the Doctor insisted and started pulling her reluctantly back toward the lift.

"Wait! Please. I swear you're safe here. I'm the one in charge of this place now. Just come to my office so we can talk privately, then, if you want to leave and never speak to me again, so be it," Jack pleaded.

"Doctor, please. We need to tell him what happened at least. You promised you'd help him with those memories. He deserves that much from us," Rose added, pulling him to a stop. The Doctor gave her a pleading look. "I know Doctor, I know. I can feel what you're feeling, but he's our friend. I trust him, despite this." She waved her hand toward the symbol and pulled her other one out of his grip, which had slackened.

The Doctor nodded stiffly, but kept a protective arm around Rose as they walked back to their immortal friend. Jack led them up a small staircase and shut the door to the cluttered office behind them. He gestured to the available chairs as he sat behind the desk, clearly accustomed to relaxing in this room. Rose sat down, but the Doctor paced around like a caged animal, examining the various alien knick-knacks that littered the room.

"Should we start with what happened the last time I saw you? When I woke up buried Dalek dust and heard the TARDIS dematerializing without me?" Jack suggested accusingly.

"How long have you been here, Jack?" Rose questioned, realizing that he had been waiting for them to return for him.

With a sigh, Jack looked up in thought. "Oh, well over a hundred years or so. I had my vortex manipulator on the Game Station. Figured the twenty-first century would be the best time frame to catch the Doctor, but it malfunctioned and I ended up in the late nineteenth instead. After a few bar fights gone wrong, I discovered that I'm the man who can't die. Caught the attention of some people along the way of course."

"Oh, Jack, I'm so sorry! This is all my fault," Rose cried. The Doctor immediately knelt down in front of her and took her hands in his own, trying to calm her telepathically as best he could.

"No, love, please don't say that. This is my fault, I should have told you about what happened sooner," he told her.

"What exactly did happen, Doctor?" Jack demanded.

"Do you remember how we kept running across the words 'Bad Wolf?' Everywhere we went, there they were," the Doctor began. At Jack's nod, he continued. "I had sent Rose home in the TARDIS, but she refused to stay there. I didn't think there would be any way for her to fight it though. She opened up the console, just like when Margaret was here and looked into the Heart of the TARDIS. In that moment, the entire Time Vortex was running through her head. She left the Bad Wolf messages for herself, flew the TARDIS back to the Game Station, destroyed all of the Daleks with their Emperor, and brought you back to life. But the power was too much and she couldn't control it. She brought you back forever," the Doctor finally explained.

"That doesn't explain why you left me there," Jack prompted, quietly accepting what was clearly a difficult admission.

"The power was killing me, Jack. The Doctor took it all out of me to save me and killed himself instead. See Time Lords have this trick, he told me, a way of cheating death called regeneration," Rose began.

"Oh, I know about this. Being here as long as I have, I kept an eye out for you, Doctor. The cricket whites were very handsome indeed," Jack interrupted, earning a glare from the Doctor.

"At least you were smart enough to wait until there was a version of me that would know you. As for why I left you there, Jack. I was regenerating, which is difficult enough on its own, and what happened to you grates on my time senses. Who knows what kind of effect your presence would have had on the process," he told him honestly.

"He was so sick after that, Jack. I thought he'd never get better. And the Sycorax were trying to take over the planet. I was sure it was all over," Rose added. Her fiancé squeezed her hand supportively, reminding her that everything had turned out alright in the end.

"That would be when I found this?" Jack asked as he pulled out a large container with a severed hand floating in some kind of blue, bubbling liquid, dropping it on the desk loudly before he sat back in his chair.

"That's, that's, that's _my hand!_ " the Doctor shouted.

"What are you doing with his hand in a jar?" Rose wondered incredulously. "And why's it bubbling?" The fingers twitched. and she jumped back from it. ""It just moved!"

"It does that," Jack said without concern. "My Doctor detector. Started bubbling like that as soon as the TARDIS materialized nearby. I figured that if I set myself up near the rift, you'd have to stop by sometime to refuel," Jack informed him. Rose got closer to the hand again and started comparing it to the hand she knew so well. She'd long gotten used to the knowledge that he'd regrown his hand and it no longer creeped her out, but the severed one, still moving, now that was weird. Then Jack laughed, and she remembered one of the things they needed to take care of.

"Doctor, what about his memories?" Rose urged him, knowing he would want an explanation about Jack's involvement with Torchwood, but not really wanting to start into what was sure to be a very long and painful story just then.

"Memories?" Jack questioned. He sat upright in attention.

"We met you a little while ago, before you knew us, during your missing years," Rose explained.

"You know what happened?!" he asked anxiously. He had spent his entire life since then wondering what had been taken from him. He stood up and came around the desk, standing near Rose.

"Yeah. Can you help him, Doctor? To get them back, or do we have to just tell him?" Rose requested.

"I can try. That weapon just severed the connections as far as I could tell before we sent him off, unconscious," the Doctor replied, tensely rubbing the back of his neck as he prepared himself for not only touching Jack physically, but entering his mind as well. He hoped that the harshness of his presence wouldn't carry over to the man's mindscape.

He felt the reassuring presence of Rose at the edge of his mind flare up as she sent him encouragement. They weren't touching at the moment. She was closer to Jack than him, but he sent her his love and noted the smile when she felt it. " _You can do this,"_ he heard in his mind and nearly jumped in surprise. She'd just sent him words without touching for the first time.

"Okay, then, little bit of rerouting memories, easy squeezy lemon peezy. Oh, never let me say that again," he babbled, making a face that Rose and Jack smiled at. Then the Doctor got serious and looked directly at Jack, despite it being hard to do so.

"Look Jack. I trust you, I just don't trust this." He waved his hand around, indicating the place he worked. "And after all you've been through, you've got no right to trust me, but to get your memories back, I've got to get in your mind."

"I know," Jack replied. "Just tell me one thing, Doc. Did you try to go back for me?"

"Yes," Rose answered earnestly. "The TARDIS wouldn't let us get there." Jack regarded her for a second, nodded, and turned back to the Doctor.

"But only after she made you?" Jack asked, shrewdly. The Doctor nodded in confirmation.

"I'm sorry, Jack. I'm so sorry." And that was the truth. He was sorry. Rose was right, he was their friend, and he'd let him down.

Jack stared at him for thirty-five seconds before he spoke. "Okay, then Doc, let's get this show on the road. I wanna know what I did."


	36. Blast From The Past

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright. With Hawkerin back in school and TheDoctorMulder in the busiest time of year at work, plus all our parental duties, we've been having a hard time keeping up, so we decided to start posting once a week.
> 
> We love all of your omments!
> 
> Let's jump through the Whoniverse, and play with Torchwood a bit.

Jack was ready for this. He'd wondered for a century and a half what had happened with those two years and now, there was the possibility that he would have them back in just a few minutes. He didn't want to say that he would for sure, because the second he did, something would happen.

The Doctor took a deep breath and came closer. "Okay Jack. anything you don't want me to see, just imagine a door in front of it, and I won't look."

"How about this? You can look at anything from during a time I knew you," Jack said. The Doctor nodded and stepped forward, hesitantly reaching out to touch his temples. Instantly, Jack could feel his presence and he let down the mental barriers he'd learned to erect in his youth and had strengthened over many decades.

He could feel the Time Lord's mind sifting through his own, searching efficiently for the missing years. It didn't take long before the Time Lord started reconnecting the missing memories, thoughts coming back to him out of order, in flashes. It was disconcerting and despite the whole process being over in a few minutes, he kept his eyes closed as he tried to process it all as it happened. Friendships destroyed as he discovered what the other agents had been doing, making up a list so that he could report them, only to discover just how far up the ranks the corruption went. He hadn't been sure where to take his findings after that, but knew that he had to do something. Then came Rose and her 'husband.' At the time, he was worried that the Agency was onto him, sending assassins to shut him up, but Rose proved herself rather quickly.

As he remembered the confrontation after the Doctor was restored, his heart broke as he recognized the friend who pulled the trigger on his memories. They had worked together many times, the man wasn't even on his list, but he probably didn't know that. Beyond that, he awoke in his ship, disoriented, sure that he was missing something important. After checking the relative time passed on the ship's computer, he realized just how much he was missing and vowed to get back at whoever had done that to him. In his attempt to snag a Time Agent, he had instead come across a blonde hanging from a barrage balloon and his life was changed forever.

Jack opened his eyes to see the two of them watching him worriedly. He smirked evilly and told the Doctor, "You know, if you're still interested in that threesome…"

"Jack!" the Doctor groaned and Rose giggled.

"I am so glad that I didn't let you go through with that, Doctor. Really, you with the same sensibilities as Jack was just so weird," Rose told them.

"That was just the mindset in that era! It's not my fault! And, yes, I'm very glad that you weren't interested in doing that with Jack," he responded defensively.

"Oh, I never said I wasn't interested. Just knew that you'd be upset afterwards," Rose teased, making the Doctor grab her around the waist possessively and growl into her ear.

"You didn't seem terribly upset by just how often other activities were happening thanks to my lowered inhibitions," he whispered in her ear, sending her images of taking her on the desk at the shop.

Jack laughed at their antics and was very happy to see that the Doctor had finally broken down and told her how he felt. The sexual tension on the TARDIS when he travelled with them had been unbearable. "Wait, Rose, you said I get to be at the wedding!" Jack interrupted as he recalled their conversation in the console room.

Rose and the Doctor exchanged a look, and the Doctor rubbed the back of his neck tensely. Before they had a chance to discuss it any further however, they heard people shouting at each other outside of Jack's office.

"That'll be my team. I'd better go see what's up. You crazy kids don't do anything I wouldn't do," Jack told them with a wink and headed out the door.

"And don't do ninety percent of what you would do," muttered the Doctor. Rose snorted, shook her head and followed Jack out of the room with the Doctor trailing behind her.

"Are you sure no more like him came through?" they heard a thick Welsh voice ask.

"Cross-referencing with the rift activity monitor," another female voice asked. "Doesn't look like it," she continued after a pause.

"The car's been impounded. I'll get it back to the owner in the morning," a man said as they came in view of the group. The Doctor and Rose stood there at the entrance to Jack's office, watching the people working. None of them had noticed them yet. The team was taking care of something that they couldn't see and adding it to a database.

"Sorry. Can you deal with the body when it's cold?" the Welsh woman asked and both the Doctor and Rose tensed up at that. The Doctor more so than Rose. He even backed up. Rose got a fleeting memory from him.

" _But of course not. You're the enemy. You're actually named in the Torchwood Foundation Charter of 1879 as an enemy of the Crown."_

"My pleasure. And I'll be making sushi," a man in a suit commented.

"No, the morgue, Yan. What happened Gwen?," Jack questioned. The team turned around and looked at Jack, who'd been standing nearby Gwen unnoticed. "Seriously, anyone could have been in here just now, for all the attention you were just paying," Jack chided them.

"Where the hell were you?" Gwen asked. "We got an alert and had to go and you weren't answering your phone.

Jack pulled a cell out of his pocket and looked down at it. "Dead," he explained and plugged the mobile in. "So, what happened?" he repeated.

"An alien that looks like a blowfish on a humanoid body came through the rift, stole a car, led us on a chase through the damned city, killed a man, then was using his wife as a shield," the man dressed in a suit said calmly. His words and his earlier comment about sushi showed that he was irritated, but his manner was as if he were almost bored.

"That explains 'making sushi'. Since when do you do field work, Ianto Jones?" Jack asked with his arms crossed.

"Not the first time," Ianto remarked.

"You weren't picking up, Jack," Gwen reminded him, poking him in the chest.

"Dead phone. Besides, I was busy," Jack replied.

"Oh, I bet you were," Gwen joked.

"Who was it this time?" Another man came up some steps. "Guy? Girl? Alien chick with three breasts?"

"That would be your fantasy, Owen," Jack teased, pointing at him. "I did that a hundred and eighty years ago and let me tell you, it's not quite as exotic as it sounds unless you have a fetish for breasts." Rose snorted at that and the Doctor shook his head. All of the members of Jack's team turned and looked up at the pair.

"Ah, so it was a threesome," Owen spoke up. "She's hot." Rose blushed.

"Oi!" the Doctor protested. "There was none of…" He made a circular hand gesture between himself, Rose, and Jack. "...that happening." He looked like he was going to be sick at the thought.

"Awww, Doc. That's no-" Jack started. Rose couldn't help herself, she started giggling.

"Don't you dare, Jack Harkness!" the Doctor threatened.

"Doc?" Gwen asked. "As in the right sort of doctor?"

"Yeah," Jack confirmed. "Everyone, this is the Doctor and Rose Tyler. Doc, Rose, this is Gwen Cooper, Ianto Jones, Toshiko Sato, and Owen Harper." He pointed out each person in turn as he introduced them as they both started going down the stairs.

"This is the Doctor?" Toshiko asked. "No, I met the Doctor once. He was an older man, with close cropped hair. Much bulkier in build."

"Oh, that was him," Rose spoke up. Jack echoed the sentiment.

"When was this?" the Doctor wondered, his brow furrowed in thought.

"Space pig. He said aliens were faking aliens. That was really you?" Tosh questioned.

"You were the woman who did the autopsy!" the Doctor exclaimed, finally placing her. "I thought you worked for UNIT? What're you doing in Torchwood?"

"I worked for Torchwood then too, just started really. But how can you look so completely different? Even your accent is changed!" Tosh asked dismissing his question of any ties to UNIT. She wasn't even supposed to be there, but Owen had a hangover that day and she covered for him.

The Doctor gave a quick rundown of regeneration to her, corroborated by Jack and Rose, who had both met him in that incarnation. As soon as he was finished, he stared at Gwen and asked, "What was your name again?"

"Gwen Cooper," she replied.

"Tell me, Gwen Cooper, are you from an old Cardiff family?" he wondered.

"Yes, all the way back to the eighteen hundreds," Gwen answered..

"Ah, thought so. Spatial genetic multiplicity," the Doctor babbled.

"Oh my god, it's uncanny. Wow," Rose gasped as she recognized the woman as Gwyneth, whom they had met on their trip to meet Charles Dickens.

"Yeah, it's a funny old world," the Doctor commented. Gwyneth had died, never having had children, so the odd chances of a family member matching her so completely were astronomical.

"What have you lot got down there?" the Doctor asked, finally seeing the creature they'd brought in.

"The Blowfish...thing," Ianto answered.

The Doctor stepped down the stairs and took a look at it, then he turned his gaze directly on Jack. "Why is this Piscine dead?" he wondered in a dark voice.

"He killed a man, then used his wife as a shield. We tried talking him down, but…" Owen said, then trailed off, gesturing at the evidence of what had happened.

Suddenly, an alarm went off and Toshiko, who was closest to it, went over and peered at the screen. "Rift activity," she announced.

"Doc, you wanna see what we get up to on a daily basis? Here's your opportunity," Jack offered as he put on his coat from the second world war. Rose looked at the Doctor and just raised her eyebrows.

"Okay," was all the Doctor could say to her. "I'll give them a chance."

They left the hub and piled into a pair of black SUVs. The Doctor sat shotgun with Owen and Rose sat in the back with Gwen as she was using the computer installed in the backseat. As they went to their destination, they used radios to relay data back and forth, a sort of briefing on the go.

Rose thought it was brilliant, but she thought one thing was odd. "How comes, if you're a secret agency, you've got your name plastered on the side of the car?"

"I know," Gwen agreed. "It's not my call, though, and we're not quite as secretive anymore." She then looked at Rose calculatingly. "So, you've known Jack for a long time?"

"Yeah," Rose replied. "Jack and us go way back."

"Can I ask you about him?" Gwen wondered and Rose instantly knew she didn't know much about Jack's past. She could see the Doctor out of the corner of her eye, paying attention to the conversation.

"Ask away," Rose replied. "I can't guarantee that I can answer, though." She felt the Doctor's pride and glanced at him to see that he was smiling.

"Fair enough. Okay. Very basic question. When's his birthday?"

Rose laughed. "Are you testing me? I don't know when his birthday is. It never came up. You don't think much about birthdays when time traveling."

"We don't even know his real name or even what century he was born in," Owen explained.

Rose could practically feel their frustration. She understood. The early days with the Doctor were like that for her, and she still didn't know much about before the war, but she'd made peace with not knowing. He was almost a millennium older than her, maybe more. It was practically impossible for her to know everything about him, and she had decided to let him come clean about things in his own time. For the most part.

"I'm sorry, Gwen. I shouldn't say anything about any of that. If he hasn't said anything, there's probably a reason for it. Those are his secrets to tell. But if you're worried about him, all you need to know is what you see now. That's Jack. He's basically a good man," she tried to reassure the Welsh woman.

"We're here," Owen announced. They pulled up to the curb and got out, the Doctor and Rose following the Torchwood team. They saw a man's body lying on the curb. Rose had been privy to some extreme horrors in her time, including seeing a whole city of people who had all died at once, but she still didn't want to see someone lying on the ground, twisted up.

They watched the team ask questions and take readings. It wasn't long before they concluded that the man had been murdered by a bipedal, probably humanoid person who'd come through the rift. The body itself wasn't any of their concern, though, so they went to leave. Back at the Range Rover, Jack's Vortex manipulator beeped.

"Whoa, that never beeps," Ianto said, staring at the wrist strap.

"I've never heard it make any noise when you weren't scanning anything," Rose added.

"That's what I was thinking," Jack said and pressed a button on the leather cuff.

A hologram of a man with slicked back, dark brown hair, a red coat with white decoration on the front, jeans and a very prominent leather holster popped up.

"I can't believe I got the answer machine. What can you be doing that's more important than me?" he complained. "Anyway, you've probably traced the energy shift, found the body. All me. Sorry about the mess. Bill me for the clean up. Now. Drinks. Retrolock the transmission coordinates, that's where I am. And hurry up. Work to do." Then he did something that Rose would have found hilarious had the man not just admitted he'd killed someone. He said, "Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You're my only hope," in a high pitched, girly voice, then turned and looked behind him like Princess Leia had in Star Wars. When the message cut off, everyone looked at Jack with the unasked question.

Rose had been paying attention to Jack as well as the hologram and knew the look on her old friend's face. This was someone he didn't want any dealings with, and he wanted him gone as soon as possible.

"It's all about the past today," Jack practically growled. "Stay here. Don't come after me," he ordered everyone. "That includes you two." He pointed at Rose and the Doctor. "I'm sorry, Rosie, but I've gotta take care of this on my own."

"We're here if you need us," Rose reminded him. She let him go off without protest, knowing that whatever it was, Jack would at least get out of it alive-not to mention, if the team was anything like she thought, they'd go after him anyway. The Doctor just watched Jack leave. The team protested and asked questions until Jack left, then Tosh announced that she could track him and find out where he was. They all piled in the remaining Range Rover. The Doctor and Rose sat in the middle in the back, with Rose on the Doctor's lap.

" _Well, this isn't how I expected the day to go,"_ the Doctor said in Rose's mind.

" _Is it ever what we expect?"_ Rose asked cheekily. " _Trouble magnet, you are."_

" _I blame all the trouble on you, oh Jeopardy friendly one,"_ he teased.

" _So what's your excuse for the other nine centuries?"_ she wondered. At that, he dug his fingers into her side, threatening to tickle her. " _Don't! There's no room for it!"_ she begged in his mind.

The SUV pulled over, and everyone else quickly got out. The Doctor and Rose took a bit longer, entangled in each other as they were. The four members of Jack's team were discussing tactics for covering the exits and had decided that they'd have two on the front entrance and two on the rear before Rose was completely out of the car.

She made to follow them automatically, but the Doctor grabbed her hand and held her back. "Let them take care of it," he warned. She almost protested, but she could feel his worry. Suddenly, a few gunshots rang out, and Rose jumped. A few seconds later, they heard Jack telling everyone everything was okay and the Doctor left the side of the SUV and went through the open door into the bar within.

"-every way. And then some," they heard an unfamiliar voice brag.

"It was two weeks!" Jack protested. It looked like the two of them had gotten into a fistfight. Both men were cut and bruised, and there was shattered glass and overturned tables everywhere, but both of them stood at the bar and had obviously been drinking.

"Except that two weeks was trapped in a time loop, so we were together for five years. It was like having a wife," he grumbled.

"You were the wife," Jack countered. They spent a few rounds going on about which one was the wife and Rose found it funny.

"Yes, we get it, you were a couple of wives," the Doctor spoke up, exasperated.

"Oh, but I was a good wife," the unknown and oddly dressed man said before he took another swig.

"I bet you were," Tosh blurted out.

"What?" Owen asked, glancing over at her jealously.

"Don't pretend you haven't noticed. He's cute," she defended herself.

"Oh, you do have a blonde!" the new man exclaimed delightedly. "You're holding all the hot people, aren't you Jack? Hello, beautiful, I'm Captain John Hart," he introduced himself. Something about the man made her skin crawl.

"Rose Tyler," she replied in a colder voice, letting him know that she wasn't the least bit interested. She could feel the Doctor's relief and sent him her annoyance at his jealousy at that particular moment. He flashed her the memory of their conversation in Jack's office where she admitted that she'd been interested.

"What are you doing here?" Jack asked John directly.

"I was wondering when we'd get to that!" He held up his arm and exposed a wrist strap just like Jack's.

"That's the same as yours," Tosh pointed out.

"A little smaller," Jack bragged.

"But lasts much longer," John countered. "Get two Time Agents in the same room together, it's always about the size of the wrist strap."

"Yes, sorry, what's a Time Agent?" Owen asked.

"What, he's never told you about his past?" John asked.

"No, he hasn't," Gwen answered.

"Fifty-first century police of time, or so they think," the Doctor explained. "You can't properly police time without time senses."

"Oh, and who do you think you are?" John asked the Doctor. He peered at the man for a few seconds before his eyes widened in recognition. "You, you're a Time Lord."

"The Doctor, hello!" he introduced himself with false joviality. Rose could feel the slight perverse pleasure he took out of the man's momentary fear. He really didn't like the Time Agency, but had once explained that there were fixed points regarding them and he couldn't do anything about them as a whole.

John seemed to gather himself quickly. "Anyway," he started, pressing some buttons to bring up a hologram projection of a canister. Rose was reminded of the night they'd met Jack and him projecting a hologram of the Chula ambulance. "I'm working with this woman. Beautiful, clever, sexy, yadda yadda yadda, and we both get shot. And as she's dying, she begs me. She tells me about these radiation cluster bombs she'd been working on," he explained.

"I don't like the sound of that," Owen commented.

"Three canisters, contents beyond toxic, swallowed up in a rift storm," he told the group.

"And ended up here," Tosh realized.

"Of course they did," Rose muttered.

"Bingo. That's the downside of your city being built on a rift in space and time. Now, left to their own devices, the radiation will break down the canisters and then infect your people and planet. They need to be neutralised," John explained, letting them know he needed their help without coming right out and saying it.

"What do you get out of this?" Jack wondered.

"Dying woman's wish. Now, there's only one problem. I don't know where they are. Hoping local knowledge might help," the Time Agent said. Rose didn't think that was it at all. John seemed more selfish than that. She sent the Doctor her suspicions, and he agreed.

"When we get back to the Hub, I can run a citywide scan on radiation surges and cross reference that with the Rift activity during that time span," Tosh offered.

"Ooh, I like you, brains and beauty. You see, together it's an easy job," John praised.

"We do this, you get of here when it's finished. Right away," Jack ordered coldly. Rose wondered if this man was one of those that Jack had found out about in his investigations.

"Does this mean I get to see your house?" John asked hopefully.


	37. Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TheDoctorMulder's A/N: How about that Heaven Sent? I thought it was awesome. I usually hate Moffat's work, but this one had me wrapped up in the mystery, and when it was unraveled, I was like cool!
> 
> Then the last line happened. ugh.

 

The Doctor, Rose, and the Torchwood team made their way into the hub through a tourist center almost half hidden against the shoreline. Jack was going to take the other man through what he called the "Tourist entrance." Not that he believed for a second that they ever had people in that didn't have a very good reason to be down there. He thought it funny that the team's usual entrance was through a tourist center.

Once inside, they watched Jack bringing John down into the hub. John was looking around, babbling.

"It's roomy, I'll give you that. Your taste in interior design hasn't got any better, though. What is this, sewer chic?" John asked when the lift stopped.

Ianto stepped forward, emptied a silver tea tray, and held it out just before Jack ordered John to give up his weapons. John handed over his guns and a sword to Jack, who put them on the tray.

The Doctor knew that wasn't all John was carrying around. Jack had always been armed. He pulled out his sonic and scanned the man. He had an impressive array of weaponry. He'd managed to hide several weapons on himself without transdimensional pockets and it didn't show.

"And the rest," Jack ordered, still holding out his hand.

"Oh, you know me. I'm a two weapon man," the Time Agent lied.

"Twenty-three individual pieces of weaponry," the Doctor called him out on it.

"One pistol strapped to each leg, laser knife beneath left elbow, seventeen small explosive charges in the lining of his coat…" Gwen started listing.

"It slipped my mind," John said. Of course, no one believed him. He started pulling various items out of his clothing.

"And just why do you need to carry so many weapons with you?" Rose wondered when the last bit was placed on the tray.

"Never know what you're gonna wind up doing," John replied, shrugging.

"What? So you bring an arsenal along?" Rose queried.

"You wouldn't know what's out there, Girly Girl," John rebuked her.

Rose stepped right in front of him and looked right up at him. "I've been going from one time and planet to another for around three years. I know exactly what's out there and guess what? I've never brought an arsenal with me." The Doctor was proud at her rebuttal, but this was one of those times where he was sure it probably wouldn't win her any points. He put his hand on her shoulder and nudged her backwards a bit.

"Oh, you're a feisty one!" John exclaimed.

########

Everyone gathered in the conference room and the team reported on what they had found out. Rose and the Doctor stood off to the side, willing to help where needed, but not wanting to interfere if Jack didn't want them to.

"Seven hours ago, we logged a minor surge in Rift energy across three locations," Tosh told them, the readings displayed on the monitor.

"Eight of us, three locations, that's simple. We split into teams to go after each canister," John announced.

"Excuse me, I give the orders," Jack snapped at him. It was clear that he was uncomfortable around this man, and knowing what Rose and the Doctor did about his last years with the Time Agency, they weren't surprised.

"Well, give some, big boy," John teased.

"John's right. Sorry. Er, do you prefer John or Captain?" Gwen asked, seemingly upset with Jack over the sudden influx of people that he hadn't told them about.

"With eyes like yours, you can call me Vera, I won't complain," John flirted.

"Tosh and Owen, take the north. Ianto and Jack go west. Me and Vera'll take the docks," Gwen ordered.

"Excuse me. Not to repeat myself," Jack interrupted.

"You got a problem with this, Jack?" she countered.

"Not at all, but you're forgetting a couple of people. Doctor, if you don't mind, I'd like you to accompany Gwen and John. I'll take Rosie with me," he suggested. The Doctor recognized the look Jack was giving him. He wanted him to keep an eye on this man and was promising to keep Rose under his personal protection. It may have been a long time since they travelled together, but they'd been in similar situations before.

He glanced over at Rose, who was giving him The Smile, not to be confused with The Grin. The Smile said she wanted what Jack had suggested.

"Oh, okay," he agreed with a long suffering sigh. He was going to agree anyway, but responding in that way usually earned him a- yep, there it was. The Grin.

"Now, given the canisters are radioactive, don't open them, eh?" John told them, clearly thinking that they were all idiots.

"Let's go, guys," Gwen snapped irritably.

"Gwen, Doctor, I need a word," Jack requested as the others left the conference room.

"Oh, can I watch this bit? He's gonna give you all the dos and don'ts. I love it," John said, stopping in the doorway.

"They'll be with you in a second," Jack replied and pushed him out the door before closing it in his face.

"What the hell are you doing?" Jack questioned Gwen angrily.

"If I can get him talking, flirt a bit, he might drop his guard. I can find out what he's really up to," she replied, crossing her arms defensively.

"Okay, clever," Jack admitted.

"More than that. Her undermining your authority in front of him, makes him think you have no control over your people and he might be able to," the Doctor added.

"Thank you. Now about the chaperone?" Gwen asked with a look at the Doctor. "Not to be rude, but I don't know you at all."

"Oh, I understand," the Doctor spoke mildly and with some amusement.

"John is dangerous. Trust me, I want you having back up. The Doctor is the best you could ask for," Jack insisted.

"Maybe, but about that flirting?" Gwen questioned.

"Oh, I can flirt with the best of them. And knowing the time frame that he's from, he might well prefer it," the Doctor added.

"I'm sure, if the Doctor sees that you're making headway in that area, he'll back off a bit to let you at it. You'll still be safer with him nearby. Three rules. One, don't believe anything he says. Two, always keep him in front of you. And three, under no circumstances let him kiss you," Jack instructed.

"As if I would," Gwen snapped at him and opened the door to leave.

"Has he got on to the no kissing rule yet? He only invented that because he wants me all to himself," John asked from where he had been hovering outside.

"Keep in front," she ordered and pushed him ahead of her down the steps.

The Doctor followed John and Gwen out to one of the vehicles and she drove to the area by the docks where one of the readings had registered. There were dozens of large shipping containers in the area that would make searching rather tedious.

"Nothing. Are you sure this is the right spot?" John questioned as he tried to scan for the canister with his wrist strap.

"Yeah. But containers get shifted all the time," Gwen replied, double checking the map Tosh had given her.

"This could take days," John complained.

"Nah, shouldn't take more than a few minutes," the Doctor assured him, pulling out his sonic to scan for the radioactive signature.

"So, that woman, the one with the canister. How did you get to know her again?" Gwen asked John once the Doctor had turned the corner. He could hear them despite the distance, but wanted to make them think he couldn't to give her that chance to get him to reveal his plan.

"We were in love," John told her.

"Oh," Gwen responded, sorry to have mentioned what was likely a painful topic for him.

"Yeah," John said.

"I'm sorry. Did they catch the person who shot her?" she asked.

"Do we have to talk about this?" he grumbled.

"No, no, of course not," she told him just as her mobile started ringing.

"Don't mind me," he said and kept walking.

The Doctor decided it would be best not to give him the chance to eavesdrop on Gwen's conversation and intercepted the man to lead him off away from her.

"Now this is interesting. What do you make of this reading?" the Doctor asked him, taking John by the arm. "This looks almost like that rift storm was created rather than naturally occurring. Isn't that unusual?"

"Yup. Very. Almost as unusual as a Time Lord hanging around a Time Agent," John said sharply.

"Wellll, he was more of a con man when I met him. Few years ago for me, a bit longer for him," he responded.

"Well, no matter what might have prompted you to have dealings with him, you are getting in my way," John told him and the Doctor suddenly felt the pinch of a strong tranquilizer dart pinch his side. The drug acted quickly even against his advanced biology and he collapsed on the ground immediately.

When the Doctor finally regained consciousness, he realized that twenty-three minutes had passed already. John was likely gone from the area, but Gwen might still be around somewhere. He quickly thought to Rose, " _John knocked me out. I'll try to find Gwen, but you be careful because he is probably coming for Jack."_

" _We'll keep our eyes open. Let me know when you find her,"_ Rose responded slowly. Her words were weak with the distance, though he could tell she was practically yelling them. He could feel her surprise at his contact, as well as her worry about the situation, but he knew that she was capable of taking care of herself and Jack would protect her as well. He still wanted to be there by her side, but she was on the other side of Cardiff and he had something there he could do.

He followed his sonic as he scanned for human life signs in the maze of shipping containers and found one of them containing a single, female signal. Upon opening it, he saw Gwen laying against the wall.

"Are you alright? What happened?" he asked as he knelt next to her to do a more thorough scan. Gwen couldn't speak, but her eyes were moving rapidly. "Gwen, can you hear me?" he said. her eyes widened a little, and he realized that she was unable to respond in any other way. "Okay, Gwen. I need to know what happened. I'm a telepath. It's not going to hurt and I won't look at anything. I'll just make contact with you, and you think at me, just like speaking," he instructed. He wasn't able to get proper permission from her, but he needed to do this. He put his fingers on the sides of her head.

" _He kissed me. Surprised me and pushed me against the wall. He said he had paralyzing lip gloss or something. That if I wasn't found in two hours, my organs would start shutting down,"_ she explained in a panicked rush.

"Jack warned us about the kissing. Probably a common thing in their time. Just a second, I think I have something in my pocket that will start neutralizing it," he told her reassuringly out loud. He pulled one hand off of her head and rummaged around in the pocket of his jacket, where he kept his version of a first aid kit.

" _In your pocket? You just keep that kind of thing in there?"_ Gwen wondered.

"Oh, lots of stuff in there. Bigger on the inside and all, never know when you'll need a generic antitoxin. There we are," he said as he placed a small, green pill under her tongue. It dissolved quickly.

**##########################**

Rose, Jack, and Ianto took one of the range Rovers to an office building nearly on the other side of town from the secret underground base. The three of them talked on the way. There was a quick rundown of the rules when working with the Torchwood team, which weren't much different from the rules of working with the Doctor. Rose promised to do what Jack said. This was his territory after all. When they got to the building where the cannister was, they became silent.

"Oh, yeah. Loving that officy feel. I always get excited in these places. To me, they're exotic. Office romances. Photocopying your butt. Well, maybe not your butt, although as we're here why don't we photo-" Jack rambled about twenty seconds after they stepped out of the lift on the top floor.

"Jack," Rose interrupted, rolling her eyes.

"The rift was active at these coordinates approximately two hundred feet above ground. That means this floor or the roof," Ianto announced as he referenced the information Tosh had given them before they left.

"Sorry, Rosie. Look, Ianto, I was thinking, maybe we could, when this is all done. Dinner? A movie?" Jack asked nervously.

"Are you asking me out on a date?" Ianto questioned, incredulous that he was finally reciprocating his interest.

"Interested?" Jack prompted.

"Well, as long as it's not in an office. Some fetishes should be kept to yourself," he replied.

"And you call the Doctor and I sweet. You two are adorable," Rose commented as she searched the office.

"Looks like we're gonna have to go through every drawer, bin and plant pot," Jack grumbled when there didn't seem to be any obvious sign of the canister they were searching for.

"If I had a sonic, I'm sure I could probably scan for it," Rose complained.

"He still hasn't given you one yet?" Jack asked.

"Nope. Think he's afraid I'll upstage him," Rose joked.

"Right, okay. I'll do this floor. Don't want you getting over excited. And you two take the roof. You're good on roofs. Jack? Why are we helping him?" Ianto asked.

"He's a reminder of my past. And not a good one, like the Doctor and Rosie. I want him gone. By the way, was that a yes?" Jack replied.

"Yes. Yes," Ianto assured him and waved them off to the staircase toward the roof.

On the way up the stairs, Rose felt the need to tell Jack, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do that to you, Jack. And I'm sorry that we left you back on the Gamestation. I mean, I wasn't the pilot at the time, but I should have insisted that he tell me what really happened sooner."

"It's alright, Sweetheart. I've learned to accept my immortality. It wasn't easy, and I'm sure there's still a lot more to come, but I don't blame you," he assured her.

"Please don't blame the Doctor either. I know, he was the one that left you there, but I can feel from him just how hard it is to be around you," she pleaded.

"You said something like that before. I know his people were telepathic, what does that mean for you?" he wondered.

"He says that there's this sort of link between us. He gets it a bit with all of his friends while they are around, but it fades over time. Because we've been, well, intimate, it's stronger and," she stopped her explanation just as her fiancé's warning came to her. "The Doctor just sent me a message." She closed her eyes and replied back, hoping she'd get through to him. They'd never conversed from a distance before. Had only sent words without touching for the first time just a couple of hours before.

"He can do that? Wow, Rosie, you two really did _connect_ ," he teased.

"Stop it," she chastised, then grinned at Jack, who grinned back at her.

"Way to go, Rosie," he praised.

"He said your friend knocked him out. He's going to try and find Gwen and we had best be careful because John is probably headed for you," she told him, back to business.

"Right, let's find this thing and we can finish it," Jack agreed.

They walked out onto the roof and saw the canister sitting on the parapet. Jack motioned for Rose to hide as he approached it. She ducked behind a large vent, out of sight.

John came up from the stairs and approached Jack silently before telling him admiringly, "Rear of the Year, 5094. Still looking good." When Jack's mobile started ringing, John took it from him and added, "Cute boy, ringing to warn you about me. Canister." He held his hand out for the tube Jack had found.

"If you've harmed them in any way," Jack threatened.

"You know, they're pretty but stupid. You used to have better taste," John rebuked him.

"Doesn't look like that from here," Jack snarked back.

"Just give it here," John said impatiently.

Rose was coming up behind him, slowly, while Jack kept the Time Agent's attention on himself.

"Radiation cluster bombs? Really?" Jack asked, handing the cannister over.

"Let's not get hung up on details," John chided him.

"Little embarrassing that you needed help to find them," Jack scoffed.

"A little humiliated you fell for the scam. Your dolly birds did all my leg work," John countered.

"Is that what you wanted?" Jack asked.

"What I want is for you to come to your senses. Join me, Jack. Back in the old routine we'd be emperors. How can you stay tied to one planet when there's thousands of worlds sparkling with wonder? We should be up there, among the stars, claiming them for our own. Just like before," John said, trying to tempt Jack.

At that point, Rose was behind John. She'd had a hard time crossing the gravel covered roof top silently.

"You know, we didn't really need the warning from Ianto," Jack said with a smile.

"We?" John asked and remembered the blonde just in time for Rose to hit him in the back of his head with a pipe she found nearby. John hit the ground immediately and Jack searched his pockets.

"You've got an arm on you," he told Rose.

"He had you too close to the edge of the rooftop for my liking. Besides, he knocked out the Doctor!" she replied indignantly.

"I would have survived," Jack informed her.

"It would have still hurt, though," she countered sadly.

"Is he everything we ever dreamed?" Jack asked, changing the subject. Rose got a dreamy look on her face for a moment.

"Oh, Jack. Neither of us ever dreamed that," she sighed.


	38. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang Part 2

Rose and Jack brought John's unconscious body back to the Hub, instructing the others to meet them there. John had caused some trouble for Tosh and Owen as well, but they were more than capable of dealing with it. As soon as the Doctor arrived, he made a beeline for Rose and swept her into his arms. This man was dangerous and he was relieved that nothing had happened to her at his hands or John Hart would likely be breathing his last.

"So, these canisters he was collecting?" Jack prompted as he examined them. Tosh scanned them, but came up with nothing.

The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and scanned them quickly. "They aren't dangerous at all. You can open them," he told Jack.

"But what about that radiation stuff?" Owen protested.

"There isn't any, and I didn't think there was. If the Doctor says it's safe to open them, then it's safe," Jack assured him, opening the first of the containers. There were small, metal rods with angled pieces inside each one and Jack placed them on the table as he found them. They made an equilateral triangle.

"Ooh, now that's interesting. Where's the other piece?" the Doctor questioned and began another scan with his sonic which led him to the body of the alien they had been forced to kill earlier. He pulled the last part of the puzzle out of the creature's pocket, but before he could get back to the table and assemble everything together, John started to groan and lifted his head to look at his surroundings.

"That was quite a hit there, Blondie. You like it rough, don't you? That could be fun. You, me, some whips," John commented. The Doctor, who was passing by him at that moment, reached out and smacked him across the back of the head, aggravating his already sore spot from before. "Oh, I was only joking. Give it a rest."

Rose was surprised at the slap. In his last body, she wouldn't have been so surprised, but since his regeneration, he hadn't been like that. Then again, he was still the same man. If his previous self had the capability, he did too.

"Any idea what's in the message on this?" the Doctor asked John Hart directly, holding up the three-sided pyramid shaped piece he'd gotten from the alien. There was a glow coming from within and it was beeping.

"It's come clean time, Captain," Owen told him, crossing his arms stubbornly.

"Yeah, all right. That woman I told you about had herself an Arcadian diamond. It's the rarest gem in the Damascene Cluster. Just when I'd got my hands on her, she only generates her own personal Rift storm. God, I hate technological geniuses," John admitted.

"You said this was a dying woman's request," Tosh growled.

"Yeah, she was dying. I shot her. Thought my luck had changed when I found it had ended up here. So, I'm thinking fifty fifty. Even split, good deal. Or if anyone fancies an orgy?" John proposed, grinning.

"Seriously?" Rose asked, aghast. "You're really going there right now?"

"Well, I think it's time we heard her side of the story, don't you?" the Doctor announced as he moved to activate the device.

"It should give us the location of the diamond," John told them.

The Doctor placed the pyramid piece on the table, clicked the three pieces from the canisters together, and laid the resultant triangle over the pyramid piece. Instantly, a hologram popped up.

"There she is," John told them, gesturing at the hologram of the woman, who really was attractive.

"The woman you murdered," Gwen pointed out calmly. Calm on the exterior, at any rate. Her eyes showed her anger.

"You've travelled several galaxies for this. Well done," she told him.

"Thank you, gorgeous," John preened.

"Except, there's no diamond," the dead woman taunted.

"What?" John questioned the hologram, as if it would answer. Who knew, maybe it could? If there were an AI interface. Rose was a bit familiar with the technology of the fifty-first century, thanks to her two months there, but she didn't know this piece.

"Only this," the woman finished.

Suddenly, the pyramid shape opened up, and the bits from the triangle ring popped open. A glowing, circular device rose in the air

"No," John said and repeated the word at least a dozen times in quick succession. "There's got to be a diamond. It's all about the diamond!" he exclaimed.

The circle stopped glowing and suddenly, barbs shot out of the edge of it, just before it latched itself to John's chest. The Doctor immediately went to go have a look at it, scanning it.

"Doctor, what is that thing?" Rose wondered.

"A bomb," he replied. Oh, that wasn't good. He wasn't rambling.

"It's an explosive device which will latch on to the DNA of whoever killed me. It'll detonate in ten minutes. It can't be removed without exploding so, don't bother trying. Goodbye, lover," the hologram explained.

"No, wait!" John exclaimed.

"See you in hell," the woman taunted one last time before the message ended.

"Deadlocked," the Doctor confirmed, putting away his sonic. It was useless against a deadlock.

"She can't be serious. Ten minutes?" Gwen gasped.

"Get it off me!" John shouted in a panic as he tried to remove the device in vain.

Ianto started his stopwatch as soon as he had heard there was a time limit and responded to Gwen, "Actually, nine minutes fifty, forty nine, forty eight." He held it up and shook it. "Always at the ready," he told them, gleefully.

"Okay, how big is this explosion likely to be, Jack?" Gwen questioned, trying to judge what their options would be.

"That technology, that size? Big," Jack said thoughtfully, making the Doctor and Rose roll their eyes.

"It'll take out the entire city at least," the Doctor informed them.

"So we should really get him out of the city," Owen suggested.

"Nine minutes thirty seven," Ianto announced helpfully.

"You've got to help me. Please," John begged them.

"Why?" Jack asked, clearly still upset with him for endangering his friends. John responded by punching Jack in the face and grabbing Rose, pulling her against his chest as he backed away from the group.

"Don't you dare," the Doctor growled fiercely. Nearly everyone in the room shivered at the fury in his voice, but John didn't release her.

"Get back. Back. Back off. Get back," he warned them all, holding his arm tightly around Rose's neck.

"You are so asking for it," Rose told him as she wrestled to break free.

"Ain't seen nothing yet," he replied and clicked shut a set of handcuffs, attaching himself to Rose. Instantly, the chaos calmed down a little. Rose being handcuffed to the man about to explode and take out a city changed things.

"What?" Rose shouted.

"Big mistake," the Doctor informed him with a glare.

"It's hypersteel, impermeable, deadlock sealed. No way to undo them. Unless you have this key," John announced haughtily before placing the key in his mouth and swallowing.

The Doctor immediately moved to try and remove the cuffs using his sonic, not believing the claim of them being deadlocked, but confirming it quickly. He couldn't remove them without the key. He eyed the man calculatingly.

"You are unbelievable!" Gwen shouted.

"And yet you still find me strangely attractive. Now you had better find a solution pronto or Blondie here'll be blown up with me," John told them.

"Would shooting him stop the DNA trigger?" Owen questioned coldly.

"No," Jack responded, though the thought had occurred to him as well. He couldn't allow this asshole from his past to hurt Rose.

"I could easily have taken him in the TARDIS and tossed him into the nearest supernova, but not while he's attached to my Rose, thank you very much," the Doctor told them.

"So, what are we gonna do now, team? The orgy's still on offer, by the way. Especially now I've got the cuffs out," John taunted them.

"Nine minutes four seconds," Ianto announced. This time with the full weight of the situation in his voice.

"Ok, taking them away in the TARDIS would save the city, but there has to be an option that will keep Rose safe," Jack insisted.

"Oh, don't worry about me at all," John grumbled.

"I'm not," Jack replied.

The Doctor stood in front of John, staring into his eyes angrily. John looked back, suddenly realizing just how dangerous a creature he had awakened. The Doctor scanned John with his sonic, looking for the needed key that would separate this maniac from his Rose. Just as he thought, he found it. "Give me the key," he hissed, holding out his hand expectantly.

"I swallowed it. Just wait a few minutes and it's bound to turn up," John responded.

"No, you didn't. Now, if you don't give me that key and release my fiancée right now, I will use this very nifty little device to force you to empty the contents of your stomach this instant, along with the key that you are holding in your throat. I can disable that device, but you release her first," the Doctor demanded.

John stared at the Time Lord in front of him. He didn't want to give up the only bargaining chip he had at the moment, but he didn't seem to have a choice, now that they knew he could retrieve the key.

"Eight thirty two, thirty one," Ianto told them, breaking the tense silence.

"You're bluffing," John tried.

Jack laughed. "Where Rose is involved, don't count on it."

"Fiancée?" he asked weakly. "This little bird is a Time Lord's mate?"

John hesitated for several more seconds before swearing and handing over the key, allowing his hostage to be released from the handcuffs. The Doctor hugged Rose tightly, then grasped her hand tightly, his other hand taking a firm hold on John's upper arm.

"Ow! Not so hard!" he protested.

"Consider yourself lucky that's all he's doing," Jack responded.

The Doctor pulled him out of the Hub and back towards the TARDIS. He had plenty of equipment there to disable the device and protect the city. If they ran out of time, he could always move the ship away and follow through with the idea of tossing him out into a supernova. But that was a last resort.

Rose, rubbing her arm where John had jerked her around, ran with them, just trying to keep up with the long legged men who were trying to get to the timeship as fast as they could. The Doctor held her hand and wouldn't let it go, not that she could blame him.

The Doctor was on the verge of losing his temper completely and she wasn't sure if he'd just take the man and toss him into a supernova instead of trying to get the bomb off and deactivated.

They got in the ship, but when Rose turned to close the door, Jack came in, with his team following right behind. The ship shuddered for a moment.

"What in the…" Ianto gasped as he paused in the doorway, trying to take in the fact that the ship was bigger on the inside.

The rest of the team made similar exclamations, and half of them tried to step back out to make sure of what they were seeing, but the doors were closed and the Doctor was already starting the take-off sequence. He stopped and looked at them.

"No, no, no, you can't have your friends in here!" he exclaimed. "It was bad enough when Rose insisted on letting you come with us. Bringing everyone on board? You know better, Jack!"

"Doctor," Rose interjected. "Get that thing off him. I'll get us where we need to go, yeah?"

"Six minutes, thirteen seconds," Ianto announced, reminding them of their time limit. It was enough to make the Doctor pull his protesting prisoner off down the corridor.

"Where is? How big is this thing?" Gwen wondered as she watched them go.

Rose started moving around the console, pressing buttons, pulling levers, and twisting dials. "I have no idea," she answered. "Been here about three years now, and know I've only seen a small part of it. This is the TARDIS. T-A-R-D-I-S. Basically, a timeship that exists in her own dimension and the little blue box you saw is a door to it."

She hit the last few buttons with a flourish, and the ship shuddered to a stop. She turned and faced the team. Gwen looked awed, and a little bit scared. Ianto looked curious. Tosh was staring at the console with wide eyes, and Owen stood there with his arms crossed as if the whole situation was a major inconvenience.

"Nice to see he's letting you handle more of the controls now, sweetheart," Jack told her admiringly.

"Yeah, I can pilot the Old Girl, so long as I don't need coordinates. Still working on understanding that," she replied.

"Should we be worried about that bomb thing?" Ianto questioned.

"Nah," Rose responded. "Maybe a little. I'm more concerned about what the Doctor's gonna do with him on his own. Jack, you might want to check up on them."

"Sure thing, Rosie. Come on, Yan, bring that stopwatch so we can toss him into deep space if we run out of time," Jack replied and headed down the corridor where the Doctor had gone earlier, knowing the ship would help him find them.

"Probably in the medbay," Rose called before they disappeared. The medbay was usually in the same place.

"Madbay?" Owen asked, perking up. "This ship's got one?"

"What self respecting ship doesn't?" Rose asked. "You alright, there?" she wondered. Ianto had seemed to get over the bigger on the inside concept quickly, but the rest of the team were still a little shocked looking.

"So, we're in a different dimension right now?" Gwen asked.

"Yep! The TARDIS is her own dimension. She can be as big or as small as she wants." Rose explained, rubbing the console.

"You talk like this ship's alive," Owen commented.

"That would be because she is," Rose told him.

"You have an AI integrated into the ship?" Tosh wondered. "I know there's been some work on-"

"Not an AI," Rose interrupted. "She's a sentient, eleven dimensional being that was grown."

"Eleven dimensional? What's that mean?" Gwen questioned.

"I don't rightly know," Rose responded with a laugh. "That's what the Doctor says. I'm still learning this stuff and have barely covered the fourth dimension."

Suddenly, they heard loud, running footsteps coming down the corridor and turned to look. The Doctor was running, holding the little disk up in the air. Ianto was right behind him and the other two men were nowhere to be seen.

"thirteen..twelve, eleven," Ianto was counting down the time on his stopwatch.

"Ha!" the Doctor cried triumphantly as he tossed the device out the doors into space and closed them again.

"Hang on, how did we not all get sucked out when you opened the door?" Tosh questioned curiously.

"Oh, the TARDIS protects us from that sort of thing. No worries," the Doctor replied with a grin. A really loud explosion was heard, and the room shuddered. Rose laughed at everyone's expressions. The newcomers had all ducked and covered their heads.

"What're you all down there for?" the Doctor asked as if he were clueless, but Rose could feel his amusement. "It's time to get you lot back to Cardiff!" He dashed back to the console and began pressing buttons in his usual dance around the controls.

Jack and John entered the room. John looked a bit more beat up, and Rose wondered what had happened.

The TARDIS rematerialized back in Cardiff. They stepped out of the ship into the night, looking around. They weren't in the Plass.

"What time is it?" Tosh wondered.

Jack checked his wrist strap and groaned. "Doctor, your driving isn't getting any better," he chastised.

"What?" the Doctor asked.

"We're two days before we left," he informed him and Rose laughed.

"Could be worse. Brought me home a year late when we first started travelling," Rose told them. "And then there was the time when we were going to 1979, but wound up in 1879. Another time he-"

"Are you quite done?" the Doctor grumbled, put out.

"Oh, no, I'm just getting started," she teased.

"Well, we could probably all do with a couple of days off anyway. Just don't run into yourselves," Jack warned his team. "Probably best we get out of town for the time being."

"Well, I could just-" the Doctor started, pointing his thumb at the timeship behind him, but was interrupted by various protests. He turned to Rose. "This is all your fault," he accused.

Rose just laughed.

"Don't be a stranger, Rosie," Jack said as he pulled her into a hug.

"Not to worry. I promised you that you'd be at the wedding and I'm keeping that promise," she assured him.

As they were saying their goodbyes, there was a flash of light and John was gone.

"Good riddance to bad rubbish," the Doctor grumbled and walked back into the TARDIS.


	39. Timelines

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Here be smut! Also hallucinogenic use.

 

The Doctor contentedly watched Rose fall asleep. Once she was in deep enough sleep that he wouldn't wake her when he got up, he slid out of their bed and redressed for his mission.

He pulled the slice of a Cerub Tree nut that he'd obtained the day before from his pocket. The nut was hallucinogenic to Gallifreyans, but a small slice had been proven to allow them to relax enough to see the timelines more clearly.

He walked to the Cloister room. It was closest to the TARDIS's heart, and the source of most of her power. The large room had been designed with ceremonial purposes in mind and was one of the best places on board the TARDIS for a good meditation.

He stepped into the dim room and looked around at the gothic cathedral style architecture he hadn't seen since before the War. It was all stone with stairs that led up to a higher level and a square shaped area in the center that held the opening to the Eye. On the wall at the top of the stairs, in a place of prominence, and larger than he was tall, hung the Seal of Rassilon.

He looked at the stylized infinity symbol with a bit of contempt. Sure, it was a symbol of his people, of his home, but it was HIS symbol, and if there was anyone he blamed for the way the War had gone, it was Rassilon.

He put his darker thoughts aside and turned to the task at hand. Keeping a wide berth around the opening to the Heart of the TARDIS, he went up the stairs and sat at the top, facing away from the Great Seal. He took a pen and some paper out of his pocket to take notes with. His natural defenses meant that, for timeline's sake, he wouldn't be able to remember everything that he would see, so would need to write down what he needed.

He crossed his legs and licked his lips, tasting the bits of Rose that still lingered there. He was doing this for her. Everything he was about to do technically violated the Laws of Time, specifically the First Law against crossing your own timestream. He had to be very, very careful, or his past could change. So much could go wrong.

No pressure then.

He took several deep breaths and calmed his mind before he raised the sliver of Cerub nut to his mouth. He laid it on the center of his tongue and held it there for a minute, letting some of the oils dissolve directly into his bloodstream before he chewed it up and swallowed.

"Right, no turning back now," he muttered to himself. "Did I really have to say that?"

He felt the effects of the nut start rather quickly. His eyes started shutting, and he took his jacket off to act as a pillow so he could lie down before he fell over. He took the pen in his hand and held it over the paper, ready for whatever he saw.

Looking up at the ceiling, he let his eyes close and started following the timelines. He traced his own timeline back until the last moment he was with Rose, just minutes before. For his first order of business, he moved forward along her timeline just a ways, peeking at the events to come. Even with the nut, the possibilities were too numerous and murky to properly prognosticate with any precision. There were only a few certainties, and they were surprising.

He then started moving back along her timeline, resisting the temptation to look at other potentialities that would no longer come to pass. He wouldn't have enough time to satisfy his curiosity, which would be pointless anyway, because he wouldn't remember.

He finally came to the moment Rose and her mother were last together. He couldn't have followed Jackie's timeline forward, even if he wanted to. She was part of a different universe and her timeline ended there, as if she were dead. It was a fixed moment.

He worked backward through the events of that day from Jackie's point of view in less than a minute. It would have been just a couple of seconds, but he came to a conversation Rose had with her mother just before he'd started the TARDIS with Jackie still on board.

"Oh, Rose," he sighed.

Finally, he came to the part where he needed the Cerub nut to see properly. He sorted through several potential timelines fairly quickly, discarding the possibilities he saw there. Finally, he found the right points in which to enter Jackie Tyler's timestream without changing anything. In fact, that had been the way it'd always been.

He was then sucked into the likely alternative timelines. He didn't want to, but they were right there. In those, he never visited Jackie earlier. He still wore the blue suit, but because of Rose, not for her. He had decided to take that medical student, Minnie, Marsha, Martha-Martha Jones along, but he would have strung her along, made her feel like crap, and screwed up her life. He saw so much he wished he hadn't seen and was glad that he wouldn't remember, including a fob watch that wasn't his own.

As much as he wanted another Time Lord around, he wasn't going to write that information down.

From there, he wrenched himself out of the trance and rolled over, crying. The Cerub nut was almost exhausted and he'd been lying there for nearly an hour. The memories from his look into Time were fading fast. Just like any other time he'd looked at timelines that he was a part of that deeply, all of the memories were gone within a minute.

He wiped his face in alarm. Why the hell was he crying? What was going to happen? He picked up the paper with a shaky hand and read what was there.

What he saw reassured him. He had written down coordinates, hints, and an outright instruction. He'd even been considerate enough to leave a note to himself telling him that he had seen an alternate timeline that was very not good and to hold onto Rose for dear life.

"'Future-27 lost, not just 1.' What the hell is that supposed to mean?" he complained.

He was tired, very tired, and needed a proper sleep. Cerub nut really sapped one's energy. Luckily, he knew just the perfect place to find a warm, curvy body pillow.

He descended the stairs, cursing himself for his brilliant idea to meditate where he did, went to their room, stripped back down, and slipped back into bed.

Once in bed, he held Rose to him and was asleep quickly.

############

The Doctor awoke to the feeling of light kisses trailing down his chest and over his abdominals. He took in a deep breath suddenly and heard Rose giggling playfully as she continued on her downward path. He threaded his fingers into her hair and gasped as he felt her tongue along his hardening length.

"Good morning," he mumbled, suddenly very much awake, as the shock of her actions cleared any remaining fog in his brain from the nut he consumed last night.

Rose hummed happily, unwilling to remove her mouth from him for the moment, and the Doctor groaned at the vibrations against him. He pulled her up to kiss her properly and rolled her beneath him on the bed.

"Good morning, Doctor," she said with her teasing smile, her tongue just sticking out of the corner of her mouth.

He immediately kissed her, chasing her tongue with his own and pressed his hips against hers, almost where he needed to be. The Doctor wedged his legs between hers and reached to pull one of her knees upward, giving himself a better angle. In one swift thrust, he was buried deep inside her, both of them moaning with the shared sensations.

"Have I mentioned lately, how much I love those little bumps of yours?" Rose gasped between his forceful thrusts.

"Mmm, I'm very glad, my love. All the better to make you shatter beneath me," he growled and began sucking on her neck.

Rose grasped the headboard behind her to gain enough leverage to push back against him and the added friction threw her over the edge rather quickly. When her trembling finally stopped, the Doctor increased the speed of his thrusts, his rambling changing from encouragements he had been giving her to something else entirely. It sounded like more of his language, based on the occasional mention of Arkytior, the only word she knew in Gallifreyan. From the look on his face and his tone of voice, she guessed that he was praising her with untranslatable endearments and she suddenly felt the intensity of his devotion to her like a wave crashing over her mind. Only a few thrusts later and he tensed, pulsing inside of her before collapsing bonelessly to her side.

"That was quite the wake up call," he commented, breaking the silence that had fallen as they both caught their breath.

"I had some really strange dreams last night. Needed to take my mind off of it when I woke up," she told him, placing her head on his chest and twirling her fingers through his sparse chest hair.

The Doctor considered that for a moment, certain that he'd inadvertently projected something from his visions through their link. It made sense. Her desire had been pushed by the need to forget. He remembered the way he felt when the memories disappeared and how he'd told himself that the other timeline he saw was bad. Best not to discuss it then, in case she recalled something that he shouldn't know about. It would be better if she thought it was just a dream.

"I have an idea, why don't you spend some time soaking in a nice, hot bubble bath. Maybe spend some time reading to take you away from unpleasant dreams?" he suggested. The longer she was busy, the more time he would have to himself to get things prepared for his surprise.

"Ooh, that sounds lovely. I've got some of those lavender bath salts from our last trip to Calgon. Still can't believe they named that colony over the fact that their chief exports are bath products," she chuckled and climbed out of bed, sashaying seductively toward the en suite. "Sure you don't want to join me?"

"Tempting as that is, Love, I've got some work to do on the TARDIS controls. You enjoy your bath," he insisted, giving her a kiss before getting himself dressed in his blue suit. He had a plan and based on the notes he had written for himself, it should work perfectly.

He added a proper bath to his list of places to be with Rose Tyler, though. Respiratory bypass could come in handy.

 _That woman has me acting like a randy kid,_ he thought to himself and chuckled as he walked toward the console room.

" _You love it, though,"_ Rose's amused voice sounded in his mind. He grinned, not knowing if that was her, or if it was him thinking about what she would have said. It also reminded him that he had to close himself off from her for what he was about to do. It wouldn't do to ruin the surprise.

He went into the console room and started pressing buttons.

"Alright, Old Girl, let's do this," he told the timeship as he flicked the last controls. The TARDIS landed with only a slight shudder.

He prepared himself for the slap he was sure was going to come.

###########

Jackie Tyler looked at the blurry, overly blown up picture of the a statue of the Roman Goddess Fortuna on her freezer door before she opened up the door below and grabbed some milk to put into her tea.

She'd only seen Rose a few days before, right after they had dealt with that Elton bloke. God, she'd been so stupid. Turned out the boy had only been wanting to find the Doctor because he'd met the man before and wanted answers.

As she was considering what she was going to do that evening, she heard the unmistakable sound of the TARDIS materializing right in her living room-again. The last time that had happened, Rose had come out and practically hung from her, crying. She'd never seen Mickey again.

She walked out of the kitchen and into her living room, ready to hold her crying daughter. Instead, she met the daft Time Lord, standing alone in front of the closed doors of the alien box.

"So, where've you all been off to, then?" she questioned as she sat her teacup down on the table. She straightened up and looked right at him. The Doctor wasn't able to cover up the expression on his face fast enough. He was looking at her with sadness, and Jackie's heart stopped.

Oh, God, no. It couldn't be. Please, let it not be true.

"Ah, Jackie, you're home. That's good. Good to see you," he greeted nervously. "Listen, I have something to-" he stopped speaking instantly when her hand made contact with his face.

"Where the hell is my daughter?" she asked him. She'd meant to yell it, but the words came out in a near whisper. "Did you get her-" She choked up.

"Rose is just taking a bath, I swear! I wanted to get you alone for a minute. Kinda regretting that now. More than kinda actually. That was a bit rude, wasn't it? Blimey, that was not what I expected to be slapped for! Oh, you're having tea. Brilliant," he babbled, holding the cheek she'd hit.

Jackie let out a choked sob of relief and covered her mouth. Then the words he'd said after telling her that Rose was in the bath hit her.

"What exactly did you expect to be getting a slap for?" He stiffened and backed up a step, bumping into the door.

"Nothing! Nothing at all. Nothing you haven't already slapped me for," he replied. "And it's not really fair to be getting another hit for those things, right? So this-" He pointed at the reddened cheek she'd just slapped. "-is a future transgression, agreed?"

"I'm sure you've done something to deserve it," she declared, narrowing her eyes at him. "So, what was it you wanted to talk to me about?" She noticed his attire. "And when do you wear a blue suit? Every time I see you, you're in that brown suit you've been wearing since Christmas. You'd think you could afford more than one suit."

"I do own more than one suit. Several of each one. I've got a wardrobe that'd have your wildest imagination put to shame, Jackie Tyler," he boasted. "Buuut," he said, drawing out the word. "I was hoping to talk to you about, um, Rose," he stopped and rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, the reason I'm wearing this suit is so you know which me you're talking to."

"What do you mean which you? What'd you do, split yourself in two?" she scoffed.

"Exactly what is it you think I'm capable of?" he wondered.

"Who knows, alien stuff. Maybe that's how you get new Time Lords." She was just poking at him at that point, and he knew it.

"That is not how you get new Time Lords," he told her in a serious, slightly disgusted manner.

"Well, it sure as hell ain't the normal way, or you'd have-"

"No, no, no, There is no time or place where I'm having that discussion with you," he declared, shaking his head. "Humans," he scoffed incredulously.

"Don't you 'humans' me, you bloody alien. My daughter loves you and I don't see why, but she does."

"And I love her," he said quietly before she could go on. That stopped her.

"Say that again," she ordered, not sure she heard him right.

"I love your daughter, Jackie. It's why I'm here, breaking the First Law of Time. I'm crossing my own timeline, so I can talk to you. That's why I'm in this suit, so you know when you're talking to future me and don't say anything to past me."

"Why do you have to cross. You're sure Rose is in there?" she questioned. Fear coming back into her voice.

"Yes, Jackie. I promise she is. You'll see her soon. She doesn't know we're here yet. It's a surprise." He shrugged.

"So, how come you have to come back and break the law thingy to talk to me?" she asked with mounting fear.

"I can't tell you that," he replied.

"I'm dead, aren't I?" she wondered. The Doctor shook his head.

"I can't tell you anything, Jackie. You know that. Don't dwell on the future. Things will be fine and turn out the way they should."

"Yes, but-" she started.

"Everything ends. Everyone's time in this universe ends at some point. Don't dwell on it, or you might miss out on something brilliant." She thought the phrasing was a little odd, especially his emphasis on the word universe. It was subtle, but definitely there. And what was coming that was so good if she was gonna die? She took a deep breath and let the matter drop, for the moment.

"Now, Jackie, can you keep these meetings from our past selves?" he asked. "It's important that you do. Universally important." There was that word again, universe.

"For how long?" she questioned.

"Until you meet a me who tells you that you can say everything. I don't know how long that'll be. It hasn't happened. When's the last time you saw me? In one or two words, because that event might not have happened for me yet."

"Elton," Jackie answered after a moment. He nodded.

"Good, that's good. Landed right when I meant to." His look turned serious. "So, can you?"

"Yes," she answered quickly. "What's so important to talk to me about that you needed to go back on your timeline?"

"Rose and I are getting married and she needs her mother for that," he spoke quickly.

"Well, it's about bloody time! The both of you mooning around behind each other's backs all the time. Surprised you two didn't just run off and do it without a word, honestly," Jackie ranted loudly.

"Yes, well, Rose said that she wished you could be there at the wedding. So, I managed to find a way to make it happen," the Doctor told her in explanation. It was dangerous, but he was being as careful as he could, and his lovely fiancée wanted it.

"Does she have a dress? Should I book a caterer or anything? What you need, Doctor?" Jackie asked, wanting to be as involved as possible.

######

Rose got into her bubble bath with a book that she found on the counter. One of those bodice rippers she would sometimes read as a guilty pleasure. She'd started reading her mother's behind her back, giggling at the way they described everything.

She hadn't read one since the last time she saw her mother. Most of what she read anymore was technical books and things she thought she needed to know. Apparently, the TARDIS thought she needed a little light reading.

"Thanks, Sweetheart," she said softly, patting the wall of the bathroom. She received a soft hum.

As she sat back in the foaming water, she heard, plain as day, in the Doctor's voice, " _That woman has me acting like a randy kid_."

Not knowing whether he was in the next room muttering it, or if a stray thought got sent through, she teased him with, " _You love it, though_."

She read a few chapters before she got out of the bath and toweled off. Once, while she was in the water, she swore she felt the TARDIS give a light shudder, which wasn't unusual while he was working on bits of it, so she dressed and quickly brushed her hair before she went to see if he needed a hand with anything. The last time he was working under the console he got burns on all his fingers.

She walked out to the console room and found it empty. There was no sign of him working anywhere in the room.

"Where is he, Old Girl?" she questioned the ancient ship. She received a hum and a picture of the doors. "He went outside? Without me?"

A little hurt that he left without her, and a bit worried about what sort of trouble he'd managed to get himself into this time, she walked to the doors and opened them. What she saw shocked her.

"Mum?!"


	40. Just a Little Trip

"Mum?" Rose gasped as she exited the TARDIS. "How?" Her eyes filled with tears at the sight of her mother.

"Careful, Love," the Doctor warned. "I've taken us to a point in her timeline right after Elton. Your mother knows not to mention this to us when she sees us if I'm not wearing my blue suit," he explained.

Rose ran to hug Jackie tightly and allowed a few tears to fall. "Oh, Mum."

"Shh, it's alright, Sweetheart. Whatever's happened to me…" Jackie told her soothingly, but choked up near the end.

"No, Mum. You're fine," Rose began.

"Rose. You can't tell her," the Doctor insisted. She looked in his eyes and could both see and feel how important this was. Rose nodded and backed away from her mother, wiping her face.

"Anyway, you told me you two weren't together," Jackie changed the subject, grasping her daughter's left hand to inspect her engagement ring. She nodded and smiled at the beautiful diamond.

"We weren't. Not until… After," Rose replied.

"We wanted to keep the wedding small, Jackie. Really, quite small," the Doctor told her, tugging on his ear nervously. Rose hoped she didn't smack him for that.

"We talked about it and have decided that we just want you and our friend Jack to witness it. We were thinking of getting married on Barcelona," Rose explained, figuring her mother would go easier on them if she were the one to break the news of where they were going. She couldn't quite imagine what her initial reaction was when the Doctor told her about them being together.

"Oh, I've never been to Barcelona! Do I need to pack?" Jackie said excitedly.

"No, Mum, it's fine. We've got everything you could need in the TARDIS," Rose responded, choosing deliberately not to correct her misunderstanding of which Barcelona they would be visiting. She would likely object to visiting another planet, but it was so beautiful there, maybe her mum wouldn't notice.

"Well, that's settled. You two can look for clothes in the wardrobe room while I go pick up Jack. Quick stop off in Cardiff," the Doctor said as he bounced back into the ship and towards the console.

"We have to take this thing? Couldn't we take a plane or something?" Jackie grumbled.

"What? Why would we do that?" he questioned, aghast that she would even suggest such a thing.

"I've heard what your driving is like, mister. Don't you try fooling me after you brought her back a year late!" she argued.

"Fine, alright! Would you like Rose to drive instead?" he suggested.

"Oh, never mind. We have to go look at dresses, you said. Just don't have us falling on our arses while we're at it," she acquiesced, dragging Rose towards the only door deeper into the ship in search of the promised wardrobe.

"So, why exactly is the Doctor's cheek red this time?" Rose asked her mother just when they got out of sight of the console room. Knowing the Doctor, there was a reason for it, but she couldn't help but be curious.

"I thought you were- But it turns out I'm the one who's-" her mother said, unable to finish either of those sentences.

It broke Rose's heart. Oh, how she wished she could tell her mother about the good things coming in her life. She won't be alone anymore. She'll have her husband again and a new family. Once again, Pete and Jackie Tyler in the universe with zeppelins in the sky didn't have a Rose, but they would be happy together.

Hopefully, they would not be fighting as she'd seen both of the original pairs doing. Both of them had lost a version of the other one and knew what it was like this time around.

"Look, Mum, I-" she started, unsure of exactly what she was going to say. She was never very good with words. "I can't tell you what's to come, but I can tell you that I'm happy. I know it's not what you wanted for me, but I'm really happy with my life."

Her mother instantly wrapped her arms around Rose. "Oh, Sweetheart, that's all I've ever wanted for you." After a few moments, she let go, sniffed, and said, "Well, let's go get dressed for your big day! Oh, look at this, I'm such a mess." She wiped her eyes, which had mascara running.

"That's alright, Mum. We can get you fixed up properly. I've recently found this mascara that doesn't run!" Rose told her enthusiastically.

"Doesn't run, huh? We'll see about that. On what planet did they invent that?" her mother wondered.

"Earth," Rose replied. "Only about ten years out." At her proclamation, her mum became much happier.

The wardrobe was as expansive as always. Its design matched that of the console room. There were large levels held up by coral pillars with spiral staircases moving between each level. It wasn't the most organized of places. One would think it would be organized by planet, then time period, but the clothing was organized much like the Doctor's trunks of trinkets he sometimes brought out. Corsets of all time periods and places were between crinolines and kilts, belts next to bras, hats were next to handbags, and on and on.

"Blimey, how big is this place?" Jackie asked in awe.

"I dunno," Rose answered. "I've never been all the way across the room."

"Well, how the hell are we supposed to find anything here? Where's wedding dresses of our time on Earth?" she questioned and Rose sighed. "Don't sigh at me, young lady. You're gonna get married in a proper, human wedding. No matter how quick it is or how few guests there's gonna be."

"Mum, I wasn't- Look, there's not likely to be a merengue or whatever hanging from one of these hangers," Rose pointed out. "But look at how much stuff is here. There's likely to be a gown somewhere around here that'll do the job, yeah? So come on, let's go shopping."

Later, Rose stepped out from behind a rack of clothes she was using as a screen and stood in front of her mother, wearing a dress that the TARDIS led her straight to. She spun so that the hem flared out a little bit.

When her mother saw her, she put her hands over her mouth and said, "Oh, my God, my daughter's getting married!"

Rose laughed. "Yeah, that was kinda the point." She stood in front of a full length mirror that had several of the Doctor's ties draped over it on one side and looked at herself from all angles. "What do you think?" she asked.

Jackie Tyler immediately rushed over and started pinching and moving the material all over, looking at it. "How's it fit? Is it too baggy or tight anywhere?"

"No, Mum, it fits perfectly," she replied.

"Are you sure? Cause I'm a dab hand with a needle and thread. I can take it in or let it out wherever," her mother fussed, turning Rose around and inspecting the garment from all angles.

"I know, Mum, but it doesn't need anything," she protested. "Can I let my arms down now?"

"Oh, yeah. Go ahead." Rose put her arms down. Her mother cupped her hands over Rose's cheeks.

"Are you sure about this, Rose?" she asked her daughter. "I mean, he's not human. He could go changing himself again. Think about how much he changed last time, what if you don't like the next him?" What would have normally had Rose groaning touched her. Her mother was worried about her future happiness.

"Mum, don't worry. As different as he is now to then, I'm sure I'll like the next him," she assured her.

"What about family?" the older woman asked. "Can he give you that?"

"Mum, I don't-" she started, but was interrupted.

"Yes, yes, I know, you don't want kids now, but that opinion is likely to change on down the line. What happens then?"

Rose, determined to not fight with her mother that day, gave it a bit more thought. "I don't know," she finally replied. "You never know about these things. No one can know their own future."

"I just want to make sure you've thought everything through," her mother said softly.

Rose hugged her. "We've talked about this Mum. We've talked about all of it. We know what we want and what we don't want."

"As long as you're sure, Sweetheart."

########

The Doctor landed the ship smoothly inside the Torchwood Three Hub and popped his head out the doors. Jack wasn't around, but Gwen and Ianto were at the computer stations.

"Is Jack around anywhere?" he asked.

"Hello to you too," Gwen snapped.

"Yes, sorry, hello. Bit out of sorts with my soon to be mother in law on board. Have you seen Jack lately?" he responded, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment at once again proving to be quite rude in this incarnation.

"In his office," Ianto informed him with a nod towards the door.

"Thank you," he mumbled as he climbed the short staircase to Jack's office.

Not bothering to knock, the Doctor opened the door wide, revealing Jack. His feet were up on the desk as he leaned back in his chair, fast asleep. The Doctor smirked at the sight, contemplating all of the ways he could awaken his immortal friend. Taking note of the holster worn on his side with a frown, he decided against surprising him abruptly and just called loudly, "Jack."

He awoke with a start and glanced around the room for a moment as he got his bearings. "Huh? What? Doctor?"

"Hello, Jack. Sorry to interrupt your nap, but you've been summoned by my dear Rose. Care for a little trip to Barcelona?" the Doctor asked, amused by his confused mumbling.

"Barcelona, huh? Why do I get the feeling you don't mean Spain?" Jack questioned, much more coherent.

"Because the planet is so much better, of course. Before we go, I need to warn you that I've picked up Rose's mother, so stay out of the range of her hands, she can lay one helluva smack on you," he told Jack.

"What happened to Jackie being gone?" Jack asked. Rose had told him her mother was in another universe.

"I might be fudging the timelines a bit," he admitted. "Her loss was a fixed point, but she didn't die. She went to the parallel universe that the Cybermen were pushing through from. There was a version of her husband still alive over there whose own wife had been Cyberised. Match made in heaven," the Doctor explained.

"But Rose still lost her mother," Jack commented.

"I tried to send Rose with her, but you know how well she takes being sent away. We managed to communicate with her one more time. The point right now, of course, is that none of us can mention any of this to her. Jackie knows we're out of order and not to mention any of this to our past selves, but she can't know more than that. I really don't want to have to suppress her memories of her daughter's wedding," he informed him.

"Got it. Just let me tell my team and we're good to go," Jack said as he grabbed his coat and headed for the door.

######

"I know I always said you two should get together, but I never thought you'd actually go through with it, Doc," Jack said when they stepped inside the TARDIS. "Especially not after that enlightening conversation we had that one night."

Back when Jack had traveled with the Doctor, Rose, and their incredibly thick sexual tension that neither was willing to do anything about, he'd cornered the Doctor and asked him why he didn't do anything about it. The answer he got boiled down to the fact that the Doctor was old and would live a lot longer, and Rose was young with a lifespan that was over in a flash.

"I hadn't understood your answer. Not until the decades started piling up. So, what changed?" Jack wondered.

"Everything, Jack. Everything." The Doctor leaned against the console and crossed his arms, obviously resigning himself to this discussion.

"Did something happen with Rosie?" he asked. It was the only thing that made sense. The power she had held brought him back to life, forever, and had killed the Doctor, and yet, Rose seemed mostly unaffected by it.

"Yes, but not like you think," the Doctor replied. "The incident made her mildly telepathic, or maybe it just awakened the latent telepathy she naturally had. It's weak, but enough to link with me and the TARDIS." He patted the console. "Physiologically, she's just a bit stronger, has a slightly improved immune system, can think slightly faster. It's like she's gotten a little extra."

Jack had noticed the same things about himself. While he couldn't reach out, he had more awareness of his own mind, was a hair stronger, faster, and all that, but it was all so little, he wondered if it was all psychological, from knowing he couldn't die.

"She has, at my best guess, an additional fifteen to twenty-five years of life. Not much in the grand scheme of things, but quite a bit from her point of view."

"So, basically, none of the big, important things have changed," Jack pointed out.

"Not yet," the Doctor said cryptically before he turned around and went over to the console. "What is taking the two of them so long?"

"They're women, getting dressed for a wedding that one of them is part of. Have patience, Doc," Jack chided. He followed the man and stared him down. "What exactly do you mean by, 'Not yet?'" he questioned.

"We've found a way to make her live longer, Jack. Our projected lifespans should come much closer to matching." As he said that, he looked hopeful.

"Whose idea was this?" Jack asked, trying to rein in the sudden desire to send the Time Lord into his next body. If that bastard made Rose think she had to do it, it wouldn't be pretty.

Apparently, his anger wasn't hidden well enough or the Doctor picked up on something, because he gave him a dirty look and said, "Really Jack? It was her idea. All her idea."

"Did you bother to try to talk her out of it? Or did you jump all over that one?" Jack interrogated. The Doctor closed his eyes and grimaced.

"Go ahead, Jack. Call me a selfish bastard. Call me whatever you can think of, because I've probably already called myself that, but don't ever insinuate that I've done anything to manipulate her into wanting this. She first came up with the idea after we met Queen Elizabeth the Tenth, who was a few hundred years old. I told her about a long life being rough and how you lose people. She said she'd do it. I explained what she'd be getting herself into and she-" He got a faraway look in his eyes and smiled.

"She, what?" Jack asked, bringing him out of his memories.

"Oh, she was brilliant, Jack. She had this logical argument laid out and I knew she meant every word." His smile disappeared. "Then later, after the me being human thing, I came up with the idea of me being the one to change, and she shot that down. She was vehemently against it. Anyway, one thing led to another and I actually called the whole thing off. Told her I wasn't going to change her."

"But she's stubborn," Jack realized. The Doctor nodded in confirmation.

"And Jack, she came up with the most beautiful, and quite frankly, terrifying plan. You see, a very old friend of ours told us something the day he died. He said, 'for the answers you will seek, the arch is the key.' She interpreted that as the Chameleon Arch. Which was the device I used to turn myself human."

"And if you could turn human, maybe she could turn Time Lord," Jack realised, getting Rose's train of thought immediately. "Damn, that's-" he cut himself off, not knowing whether to say it was brilliant or crazy.

"Exactly."

"Will it work?"

"Yes. It's the only thing that can," the Doctor told him. "The changes in her genome made every other likely possibility to extend her life unusable, short of turning her into a fixed point, which is completely off the table."

Jack agreed with that wholeheartedly. He didn't want his life for his worst enemy.

"So, it's Time Lord or nothing. That's- Wow."

"Yep," the Doctor said, popping his letters as Jack had quickly found out this regeneration was prone to do.

After a few minutes of silence in which both men contemplated their discussion, Jack looked up and said, "Love the tight pants you wear in this regeneration. Guessing you're the something blue?"

The Doctor glanced down at himself and groaned. "I can't get married in blue!"

"Why not?" Jack asked. The Doctor had already headed toward the corridor.

"It's for mourning," he explained quickly, before disappearing further into the ship.

#####

Jack was sitting on the jumpseat when Jackie walked back into the console room. The Doctor was piloting the ship with his usual leaps around the controls.

"You must be Jack?" she asked as she approached him, her eyes glazing over a bit at the handsome sight.

"Captain Jack Harkness, and may I say that the mother of the bride is looking spectacular, ma'am?" he said as he took her hand and kissed the back of it.

"Stop it!" the Doctor chastised as he completed the landing procedure. "You look, er, lovely, Jackie, as always. What took you so long?"

"We had to choose a dress, shoes, accessories, do our hair, makeup, and actually get dressed," she told him derisively. "Really, in a shop we probably would have still been trying on dresses, but Rose found the perfect one almost immediately. Fit like a glove and everything."

"Wow, that never happens," the Doctor facetiously said. Jack opened his mouth to say something, and the Doctor shot him a look. There was no need to let Jackie know that the TARDIS had probably placed that dress right in front of Rose. The Old Girl wanted to be involved.

At that thought, he got what was definitely an affirmative from the TARDIS.

"Where's Rose?" he asked.

"You can't see her before the ceremony, it's tradition," Jackie replied.

"Well, how's that supposed to work when we all leave the ship together?" he wondered confusedly. Humans had some very odd traditions.

"Alright, at least wait until we get there, you plum," she consented.

"Well, we are here," he told them as he bounced to the doors and threw them open wide. "Barcelona!"

Jack and Jackie both burst into laughter and his enthusiasm deflated immediately. The Doctor turned to look out the doors and saw red dust and rocks behind him. "What?" he gasped.

Jack looked at the monitor and informed him, "Looks more like Mars, Doc."

"That! That shouldn't have happened!" he protested as he dashed back to look at the monitor himself.

"We're on Mars? Bloody Time Lord. We're supposed to be in Barcelona. You was saying about your piloting skills?" Jackie teased and grumbled at the same time, taking the detour remarkably well considering her threat about ending up on Mars the last time she was on board, oh. That was why she said she would kill him if they ended up on Mars. He looked up to glare at the time rotor and sent some rather harsh thoughts towards his time ship. He heard the ship giggling at him and scowled.

"Right, enough of that! Honestly, all the trouble I've gone to to make this day perfect for Rose and this is the thanks I get," he grumbled as he piloted the ship to the coordinates that he had originally programmed, hitting the console with the mallet when he saw them slipping again. "Don't you dare! I promised Rose Barcelona and that's what she is getting!" he shouted at the ship.

"Why's she fighting it?" Rose asked as the entered the console room.

"Dunno, oh," the Doctor responded, all of the air leaving his lungs as he looked up at his bride to be.

"Doctor? You'd best get the helmic regulator," Rose prompted as he stared at her, dumbstruck.

"What?" he asked, blinking to kickstart his brain back into functioning. "Right, yes, sorry!"

Rose giggled. She knew he would like the dress they had found. It was perfect for their little private ceremony. It was a pale cream colour with a lace overlay, flared skirt and little cap sleeves that would keep her nice and cool on the beaches of Barcelona. Her mother had helped put her hair up with soft curls tumbling down to frame her face.

"Looking good there, Rosie! Too bad I learned a long time ago that nobody's got a chance at coming between you two," Jack teased.

"Good to see you, Jack," Rose greeted as she ran over for a hug from him. The Doctor narrowed his eyes at Jack, but couldn't really argue with the assessment.

After double checking the coordinates on the monitor and checking the view outside before going to the doors this time, he announced assuredly, "We are definitely on Barcelona now. Shall we?" The Doctor offered Rose his arm and she took it happily, Jack doing the same for her mother behind them and they all walked out into the warm sunny weather of Barcelona.


	41. Ceremony

"Where are we headed?" Rose asked as the Doctor led them out of the little town.

"It's a surprise," he said with a wink.

The Doctor and Rose had been to Barcelona several times to relax, but they usually went towards the beach in the other direction. Still, it was a lovely planet and she was sure that he had something specific in mind.

"It's not quite what I was expecting," Jackie commented as she walked with Jack. There weren't any cars in the streets and while it was all very warm and modern, something just didn't seem right.

"It's a lovely place, Jackie. The perfect choice for these two love birds," Jack responded with a broad smile.

"My home planet was mostly desert. Not a sandy kind of desert, but very dry and rocky with lots of mountains. Meaning that for my people, water was considered a very important and cherished resource. Many of our most important ancient ceremonies involved water which makes my choice of location all the more important," the Doctor rambled as he led them through some thick foliage that seemed almost jungle-like. They heard the distinct sound of a waterfall nearby in the direction they were heading.

As they entered a small clearing in the trees, they could see what it was the Doctor brought them here for. The waterfall was small and tumbled from several metres above them into a clear, blue pool. Bright blue and purple flowers bloomed on the rocks next to the waterfall and around the pool.

"Oh! It's beautiful!" Rose gasped and gripped his hand tighter.

"Doctor, this is lovely," Jackie told him, her eyes tearing up as she took in their surroundings.

"Only the best for my Rose. Now, I'm skipping parts of this. Just interminably long rubbish about the glory of Gallifrey and whatnot. There are some words that will need to be said in Gallifreyan, but the TARDIS doesn't translate that, so I'll do my best to give you an approximation. We didn't generally do the wedding vows thing, but we can if you'd like, Love. There will be a point where I'll be asking for your input, Jackie. And we need this," the Doctor explained as he pulled a long strip of golden cloth from his pocket.

"What about a minister? And did you not plan this out?" Jackie asked. The whole thing seemed spur of the moment to her.

"Oh, we don't need that, just witnesses," the Doctor told her.

"We talked about certain things we wanted, then changed our minds and, well, plans never really work out," Rose explained.

"What about rings?" Jackie questioned.

"Ah! Yes, thank you, Jackie. Almost forgot," he responded and dug further into his transdimensional pocket for the bands that they had worn while he was human. He'd originally planned to use a different, more ornate set, but these plain bands had taken on special meaning. They were slightly altered now as he had taken the time to engrave them with his and Rose's names entwined together in the circles and swirls of Gallifreyan. It was a tradition of his people that their names be combined when they became one with each other, not just listing one after another but mixed using a special formula that changed both names. The resulting combination would then become a part of the names of their offspring. It was part of the reason why Gallifreyan names were so long and many Time Lords had chosen to use titles instead.

The Doctor handed the rings to Jack for the moment. He could discuss the significance of the engraving with Rose later. Pulling Rose with him, he moved to stand on a wide rock by the edge of the pool.

"We don't have to jump in, do we?" Rose asked teasingly as she looked down at her dress.

The Doctor laughed. "No, no need for that. Just being in this place is special. Surrounded by beauty and life," he assured her. "Jackie, if you could stand beside Rose. Jack, by me. Perfect."

The Doctor prompted Rose to wrap one end of the cloth around her wrist and hold out the other end for him. While she was doing that, he spoke in the musical cadence that Rose had come to associate with Gallifreyan. He didn't speak it often, usually just bits and pieces during intimate moments, but this was truly beautiful. "Umm, ok, the important bits are that through this ceremony our timelines are now entwined, for all eternity, even if we should part ways along the path, our lives will always be connected through this joining. We each take responsibility to respect the safety and reputation of our houses, that's like our bloodline, family, sort of."

Rose nodded and handed the other end of the cloth towards him. He took hold of it, just next to where she grasped it and wrapped the loose end around his own wrist. "Jackie, as Rose's only surviving parent, I ask for your permission to take her as my wife. Please say, I consent and gladly give," the Doctor prompted.

"I consent and gladly give," Jackie choked through her tears.

"Normally, a member of my own house would stand with me to declare me worthy of taking a wife, but Jack is the best we've got," he said teasingly.

"Watch it, or I might not declare you worthy," Jack jabbed back.

"As a representative, in place of the house of Lungbarrow, Jack Harkness, please say, I consent and endorse this union," the Doctor prompted.

"I consent and _strongly_ endorse this union," Jack replied with a grin.

"That'll do. Did you want to make promises, Rose? We can make this as human as you'd like as well," the Doctor asked.

Rose bit her lower lip as she considered what sort of promises might need saying. They certainly didn't need the honour and obey sort of things. "I promise you my forever, for as long as we've got," she said simply and watched as the Doctor's eyes turned glassy at her confident statement.

"And I promise to make that forever as long and happy as possible," he replied. "Could we have those rings, now Jack?"

Rose slid the larger band on the ring finger of the Doctor's left hand and he slid hers next to the engagement ring on her left hand. "There's just one thing left. I have something I need to tell you, love," the Doctor said before leaning down to whisper in Rose's ear. She could tell that it was Gallifreyan, but there was something even more special about it. The word seemed to echo in her mind in a way that wouldn't let her forget it despite her unfamiliarity with the language.

"What does it mean?" she wondered as a tear dropped from the corner of her eye. The Doctor wiped it from her cheek.

"That's my name. My real name, known only to you, my wife," he answered, prompting even louder crying from his mother-in-law.

"I think you're forgetting the most important part, Time Lord," Jack interrupted. "You may now kiss the bride!"

All of them laughed and the Doctor pulled Rose into a deep kiss. Their tied hands were held between them, and they pulled back before they forgot they weren't alone.

The Doctor gently unwrapped the ribbon binding their hands together. As he folded the ribbon, Jackie hugged her daughter tightly. When he put it in his pocket for safekeeping, Jack came up behind him and clapped him on his back.

"Way to go, Old Man," Jack congratulated in a low voice. "Took you long enough, but you got the girl in the end." The Doctor was happy in that moment, even if he had to tamp down his time sense to be around Jack. Given time, he'd get used to the other man's wrongness.

"You know, I never thought Barcelona would look like this," Jackie commented as they walked back into town. "Always thought it would be dryer, with narrow streets and such."

"Nope, this is Barcelona," Jack replied. "There's an excellent place just down here where-"

The Doctor cut him off by clearing his throat loudly and giving him a pointed look with a nod to Jackie.

"-we can get a great drink," Jack finished, changing his tale mid sentence.

Jackie saw a couple walking their dog down the street. "That poor puppy," Jackie said loudly. "He's missing his muzzle."

"Mum!" Rose chided her.

"What? He's got no nose. Poor thing looks weird," she defended herself. Then she saw a young girl running down the road with her dog, its long ears flapping as it bounded after her. "Oh, that one looks like it could be related. Weird deformity."

The Doctor and Rose glanced at one another, wondering how long it would be before she figured out that they weren't on Earth.

"That's just the breed. This place is famous for them," Jack assured her. They walked into the restaurant that all three time travelers knew had a balcony with an excellent view of the bay.

Inside, there was a man with albino skin and spirals that appeared to be tattooed on his arms and temple. The man led them to the balcony and a table for four and left menus with them.

"I wonder why people do that," Rose's mother spoke when their waiter left. "Tattoo themselves, like that I mean."

"Mum, you've got a heart on your stomach," Rose pointed out.

"Yes, but it's hidden, isn't it?" She replied.

" _We need to tell her,"_ Rose thought to her husband, who agreed reluctantly.

"Mum, there's something you don't know. We're not in Barcelona, Spain. We're on Barcelona, the planet. It's a human colony, though," Rose informed her mother, who narrowed her eyes.

"It's five thousand and eight," the Doctor added helpfully. "One of the earlier places humans landed when they started leaving the solar system."

"You mean to tell me that we're not only on a different planet, but thousands of years in the future!" Jackie nearly yelled. "You told me we were gonna be in Spain!"

"No, we said we were getting married on Barcelona, that was all. You inferred the rest," the Doctor said and Jack groaned next to the older Tyler woman.

"Not a smart move, Doctor," Jack informed him, shaking his head.

"Mum," Rose jumped in, trying to calm her mother, who rarely took a holiday and preferred staying at home. "It's okay. Look around you. It's a nice place. We've been here several times already, and had a great time. Just relax and enjoy it. It's like being on an island, yeah?"

Her mother looked around and took note of the people doing everyday things, the quiet atmosphere, and the reassuring looks on her daughter's the Doctor's, and their friend's faces. "I suppose," she replied and sat back in her seat. "I better not get attacked by a monster," she huffed.

Rose laughed, Jack rolled his eyes, and the Doctor told her that she'd be more likely to get attacked by a monster in London than on Barcelona. The waiter came back and they ordered, Jackie saying that she wanted whatever Rose was having.

"So, Jack. Where are you from?" Jackie asked as they waited.

"The Boeshane Province," Jack answered. "It's about eight light years away from here. I'll be born in thirty-two years." he told her.

The food arrived and they were just about to dig in when the explosion happened. Down on the beach, there had been a rather large gathering of people watching a Hysteria tournament, which was similar to Volleyball, but with seven people on each team, two balls, and the goal was to get as many shots through the hole in the net as possible in four minutes.

The four of them all stood up, trying to see what was happening. It was chaos down below and the time travelers all rushed toward the door.

"You're all rushing to the scene of the explosion?" Jackie called.

"Stay here, Mum. You need to stay safe," Rose called back as they all left. Jackie huffed and followed them. There was no way she was letting her daughter run into danger without her.

They got to the site of the explosion and Rose immediately went to help a woman limping away from the burning stands. When someone else stopped to help, she took off back toward the fire, where she noticed her mother, right where she wasn't supposed to be.

"Mum, what're you doing here?" she asked.

"Well, I couldn't leave ya to get hurt," her mother told her.

Rose groaned. "Stay with me and don't wander off," she ordered.

"Alright, alright," Jackie replied.

Jack came up. "Casualties don't seem too high. I think most of the people who can be moved are safe," he told her. "Have you seen the Doctor?"

"He's safe, that's all I know," Rose answered. She sent a query to her new husband and learned that he was on the other side of the burning stand, examining a piece of the device.

"He's over there on the other side," Rose told him, pointing over to where he was.

"But you just said-" Jackie started.

"I know, Mum, I just know, and I'll explain later. Okay? Jack, get her out of here and somewhere safe." Her friend nodded and took her mother's arm to lead her away from the fires, but she resisted.

"What about you?" she asked.

"I'm fine, Mum, please, just go with Jack." With those words, she turned and ran around the burning stands.

"Come on, Jackie, she'll be okay. They're pros at this," Jack said and tugged her away from the fire.

They got halfway across the beach before the second explosion went off.

##################

The Doctor was looking at the fragments of the bomb he had found in dread. He knew this bomb. He'd come across several of them over time. It was the signature explosive of a bomb maker known only as Polaris. He sold explosives to whoever would pay. Anyone could have set it, but it looked like a local attack using a weapon that could have been gotten anywhere.

Rose came around the edge of the seating and strode right up to him. "Whatcha got?" she asked.

"Pieces of timer, casing, wires and whatnot. It's one of Polaris' bombs," he explained.

"Polaris, Polaris," Rose said, searching her memory. "Isn't that the guy who think's it's his job to spread destruction everywhere?"

"Yeah," he said as a second explosion went off.

The pair ran toward the new explosion. As they neared, they heard the unmistakable scream of Rose's mother. Both of them went straight to the source of the screams.

"No, no, no," Rose said as they ran.

They got to her and found Jack laying on her with shrapnel in his back. Jackie was trying to push him off her.

"He's dead, he's dead. Get him off," Jackie said, freaking out. They rolled Jack's body off of her and she got up and backed away from him. "He saved me, but he's- oh, God."

"Mum, are you hurt?" Rose asked her, checking her over.

"I'm okay," her mother replied, still staring at the body in front of her.

With Rose sure her mother was okay, she dropped down next to the body of her old friend. "Oh, Jack," she said, starting to cry. Without thinking, she grabbed the twisted metal in his back and yanked it out of him.

The Doctor got down next to her and wrapped his arms around her. "Shhh, Love, it's okay, remember? Just give him a minute, he'll be back," he whispered.

Rose nodded and let her husband pull her back to a standing position, unaware that her mother was watching them closely.

A few seconds later, Jack Harkness gasped back to life. He looked around, bewildered and gasped out, "Jackie, where-oh, you're okay." He slowly got up and stretched. "Damn, that's another coat ruined," he complained.

Jackie, who had been standing there with her eyes wide in shock, yelled, "You were dead. I know you were dead. What the hell are you!" She took a step back, but Rose kept her from bolting by grabbing on to her.

Jack sighed. "Here we go again."

"He's immortal, Mum," Rose told her in a soft voice.

"What, you mean like a vampire?" Jackie asked, eying up Jack.

"No, not like a vampire. He's human," the Doctor scoffed as Jack laughed.

"Rude, Doctor, culture shock," Rose chided and turned back to her mother, searching for the key to get her mother to understand. "Oh, there's no time now. Bombs exploding and all. We'll explain it later."

"Alright, Rose, please take your mother back to the TARDIS. I know you want to help, but she has established events that she must be alive and well for to experience or else we will have a universe shattering paradox on our hands. Jack and I will take care of the catastrophe out here," the Doctor instructed worriedly.

"Please be careful, Doctor. Still have to go on honeymoon, yeah?" Rose told him, giving him a kiss before leading her mother back to the safety of their ship. She really would rather be part of the rescue, but her husband was right. Her mother needed to be brought back to her proper time and at this point, sending her with Jack would have her freaking out now, despite the fact that he saved her life.

Rose held her mother's hand tightly as she led her back to the ship. She was watching carefully for any other threats along the way, knowing that there had already been two violent attacks in the area. Yes, it would be horrible for anyone to die, but she and the Doctor had already witnessed Jackie doing things after this, and she had no desire to see reapers ever again.

The two of them sat in the library while they waited for Jack and the Doctor to come back and Rose spent the time explaining a bit about Jack, without going into too much details about her role in all of it. Her mother wouldn't be around to see the changes in her later, so she didn't need to be worrying about all of that after they were separated. She had missed her mother so much since Canary Wharf, she didn't want to ruin their time together with arguments about aliens and things.

Instead, she focused on sharing some of their more pleasant trips through the universe. Rose had collected a few trinkets that she had thought her mother would love and decided that this was her only chance to give them to her. Running to her room, she grabbed a necklace that she had bought a couple of months ago because it reminded her of her mother more than really wanting it for herself anyway. Her mother promised to wear it all the time, so Rose was confident that she would have it on her when she left for Pete's World.

The Doctor and Jack returned about two hours later, having stopped the attempted invasion of their favourite holiday planet. Jack was beaming with excitement at having run with the Doctor again, so Rose didn't bother asking for all the details, letting them have their own quality time together.

It was difficult saying goodbye to her mother, knowing that she would likely never be able to visit with her like this again. But she tried not to cry, knowing it would only upset Jackie even more. No matter how much they tried to convince her that she wasn't going to die soon, they couldn't tell her what would really happen.

########

About a week after her daughter was married, the ghosts appeared. The world was freaking out and Jackie tried to get Rose on her mobile, but there was never any answer. It didn't take long for people to start trusting the ghosts, and she soon figured out why. The one that came to her kitchen was her dad. Oh, how she missed him.

Then came the day that Rose and the Doctor came back. When the Doctor tried to slip past her while she was greeting Rose, Jackie grabbed her son in law and planted several kisses all over his face. He looked like a little boy wiping his face off after his mother embarrassed him.

That's when she noticed that he was wearing the brown suit.

Later, she was on the TARDIS alone with her daughter, who wasn't yet married to the alien. She thought back to the last adventure they had together and decided that maybe, she could try to get Rose to see how much she'd changed, and how much she would change still. The Doctor was a good man and loved Rose enough, but he still couldn't give her the things a mother wants for her daughter, namely to settle down and have grandchildren.

So she did what any good mother would do.

"You even look like him," she told her daughter, who wasn't bothered by that in the slightest.

###

For a second, she thought maybe she'd changed something and she wouldn't lose her daughter, or her daughter wouldn't lose her, but it wasn't meant to be. The dimensional hopper buttons stopped working and she couldn't go back.

This is what they meant. That Rose had lost her, and why they both kept saying to not focus on death.

She stood on that beach in the middle of nowhere, hoping she'd see her daughter again, hoping that after their wedding, they found a way, but the woman she saw hadn't been married yet. She'd checked her hand for rings.

Jackie Tyler took comfort in the fact that her daughter would be alright. Even if she never saw her again, her daughter would see her on one last day.

And one never knew. There'd been several supposedly impossible crossings between the universes. Maybe there'd be another.


	42. The Arch

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We've decided to post this a bit early as a New Years gift. This is our last chapter for this story.
> 
> Hawkerin and TheDoctorMulder both want to thank our reviewers. We've enjoyed every single one of them. Have a great year!

After leaving Jackie back in her flat and correct time, the Doctor moved the TARDIS into the Vortex. Rose was upset after saying goodbye to her mother again and he moved to hold her in his arms.

"Are you okay, Love?" he asked softly. Rose sniffed and nodded in his arms.

"It hurts worse this time," she confided. "I'm never gonna see her again."

"I know. I'm sorry," he whispered and held her tighter. Jack came over and wrapped his arms around her on the other side. They both supported her until she regained her composure.

"Thank you," she whispered after a few minutes. She kissed his neck, his jaw, and, finally, his lips. Rose then heard a soft laugh behind her and pulled away from the Doctor to turn her head and look at their friend, who was still hugging her from behind.

"So is this where we make good on-" Jack started before Rose laughed and elbowed him and the Doctor said his name exasperatedly. "I'm taken, but you're laughing now," he told Rose and kissed her on the cheek, only pulling away from her completely at the Doctor's mock possessive growl.

"So, what now?" Rose asked.

"You two drop me off in Cardiff and shag across time and space," Jack said. "Since I can't join in the honeymoon festivities," he added, only half jokingly.

"I don't need a honeymoon," Rose said, blushing.

"But that's the tradition, right? Get married and go on a trip somewhere romantic?" the Doctor replied.

"Look at our lives. Everyday is a trip somewhere," Rose reminded him. "We can romance at any time. Of course, if you want to take part in that tradition, I don't mind, but I don't need it." She gave him her special grin and he returned it.

"You know, I actually do want to have that tradition. You and me, no running," the Doctor told her. He thought that was why the TARDIS was protesting the coordinates, because of the bombing that was to take place that day, then realized that it actually probably due to the risk on Jackie's life while they were there.

Before they dropped off Jack again, he needed to talk to both of them about his theories with using the Arch. According to his notes to himself, he should have Jack there when Rose underwent her transformation.

"Jack, I know you want to get back to your team, but I'd like your help with something," the Doctor requested tentatively.

"My help? Must be important if you're willing to admit that you need help," Jack responded, teasing him a bit.

"Well, I'm not willing to take any chances with this. It has to do with what we were talking about before the wedding," he admitted.

"Ok, just how can I help with that, Doctor?" Jack questioned.

"What are we talking about?" Rose wondered, not liking the way they were leaving her out of this apparently important conversation.

"The Chameleon Arch. I think that because Jack has been infused with the energy from when you were Bad Wolf, the same energy that changed you slightly, he might be able to help stabilize you during the process," the Doctor explained.

"I thought you said that the changes to her made her strong enough?" Jack asked, unwilling to help if the process would put Rose's life in danger. He didn't really believe that the Doctor would willingly put her at risk either, but the Doctor made it sound foolproof earlier.

"She should be, but it isn't really meant to do this and any unexpected circumstance could be dangerous. The process can't be interrupted once it starts. There's still risk, though, and because of it, I'm completely, utterly, thoroughly terrified of it and shouldn't be doing this. I'm placing my trust in the advice of an incredibly ancient being that seems to know more about me than I do about him, and the instincts of my beloved wife's interpretation of his words. What I am confident about is that your life force would be helpful should anything go wrong and the fact that you won't die from the process. So, will you help us, Jack?" the Doctor pleaded.

Jack looked worriedly between his two friends for a moment. "Rosie, are you sure that this is what you want? Taking this chance with your life, just to be stuck living longer than a human was ever meant to? I can tell you, it isn't always a good thing living for centuries," he asked her directly. The Doctor had explained her motivations from his perspective, but he needed to hear it from her himself.

"I'm sure, Jack. It's important to me that the Doctor isn't alone. He does so much for so many people, through all of time and space, doesn't he deserve some happiness in return? A chance to not lose everything again?" Rose insisted. The Doctor began to tear up at her words. He could feel her determination through their connection.

"But Rose, I won't die. I can be a constant friend too. Not his lover, no matter how much I'd like that, but he won't be completely alone. What you are planning is huge, Sweetheart," Jack reminded her.

"It's not the same. And I really do want this. I want to give him, not just a human forever, but a real forever that might just match his own," she replied, meeting the loving gaze of her husband.

"Alright, so let's get a few things straight. She uses this thing and becomes Time Lord like you, will she be able to regenerate? How many do you even have left, Doctor? I can't imagine they're unlimited," Jack questioned.

"We get twelve regenerations, thirteen bodies. This is my eleventh. I've only got two left. As for what will happen to Rose, it won't give her the energy needed for regenerating. That was given to us in the Academy. She'll be Gallifreyan, but not really Time Lord. That's actually more of a rank than species. Regenerating Gallifreyans count as a subspecies, technically."

"So, what does that mean for me? I mean how exactly will I change?" Rose asked. She saw the signs of the Doctor about to go off on a tangent about species and wanted to steer him away from that.

"You'll possibly have two hearts, not entirely sure about that. We got our second heart in our second incarnation and that's what I'm aiming for in your physiology. My first body died of old age at about four hundred and fifty. After the first regeneration, bodies last much longer. We would certainly have centuries before your body thinned out and given how quickly I've run through the rest of my regenerations, we might just match," he explained, babbling nervously at all he was revealing to his friends. This wasn't something that he talked about with anyone.

"Will my telepathy be stronger? Will it change how we are connected right now?" Rose wondered. She loved that aspect of their relationship.

"Definitely stronger. We will always have an awareness of each other, even if we were separated long enough that our bond faded. Not that I'd want us to be separated, but after a century or two with me, you never know, you might not want.." the Doctor explained, but was abruptly cut off by his wife.

"Don't even say it," Rose growled at him.

"Forever is a long time," Jack interjected. "You really can never know how you'll feel in a century or two. But if anyone could manage it, it would be you two."

"Why does everyone have to think so far ahead?" Rose wondered. "Yes, I know it's a long time. Yes, people change over time, some more so than others, but you can't know your own future, even if you can travel to it."

"Okay. I get it, there's no changing your mind. I just needed to be sure," Jack acquiesced, glad to hear it from Rose herself.

"There is one thing, though," the Doctor pointed out. "This isn't necessarily permanent. In the future, if you find the weight of time to be too much, this device can also be used to return you to the way you are now."

"Of course you would think of that," Rose grumbled.

"That's actually a great idea," Jack interjected. "A way out."

"Okay, I can see that, but there's a catch, yeah?" Rose deduced.

"Yeah. A big one," the Doctor replied. "Unfortunately, and I can't see a way past this, but if you were to want to return to your current state, you wouldn't be able to remember all of the time you were Gallifreyan."

"You mean like when you turned human?" Rose asked, wanting to be sure.

"Exactly like that," he replied. "With the additional senses and the way your mind will retain information, you won't be able to remember it all without your mind overloading. You could lose part of your human memory in the best case scenario. In the worst, you could die."

"So why are we even discussing this? I'm not backing out, Doctor," Rose argued.

"I'm letting you know all of your options so you can make an informed decision," the Doctor told her.

"Well, my decision is made," Rose stubbornly insisted, prompting a chuckle from Jack.

"Seriously, Doc, I doubt anything could turn her from the course she's chosen. What do we need to do?" Jack asked.

"I've already been working on the mechanical adjustments needed for the Arch. I had to make sure that your memories and consciousness would remain intact, not transferring them to a watch like when I went through this. Also, it is meant to go from Time Lord to simpler life forms, so I had to adjust for that as well. Knowing that Jack is helping now, I need to add a few things so that we can connect you into the process too. We can't touch her while it's going. And while Rose remembers how it was for me, Jack, this is going to be agonizing for her. Have no doubt that there will be a fair amount of screaming," he informed them.

"Is there anything I can do to help with those final adjustments?" Jack asked. Under the Doctor's direction, the two of them proceeded to connect the extra wires and gadgets to the Chameleon Arch that would allow for channelling energy from Jack if needed. The Doctor had already added a way of monitoring the process through the TARDIS computer and would use that connection to switch on the energy transfer if he saw anything going wrong.

Rose sat on the jump seat, wringing her hands nervously as they worked. She could feel her husband trying to calm her telepathically, but she didn't want to distract him from his work and tried to calm herself as much as possible for his sake. She had confidence in his abilities with this sort of thing and the fact that he would make this incredibly safe before even thinking about going through with it all. He said he was terrified, which probably meant that there was still a small risk involved, but, knowing him, that was probably a very small possibility.

Jack and the Doctor turned to her after checking over the computer interface thoroughly and she knew that it was now or never. If she showed the slightest hesitation, they would scrap the project for sure. "All set?" she asked, trying to sound more confident than she was feeling.

"It's ready. It's been an emotional day, Rose. We don't have to do this today," the Doctor told her. "We don't have to do it at all," he added.

"It's ready and the sooner the better. I don't see a reason not to," Rose stated. Jack looked back and forth between them, obviously deep in thought, then settled on her and she gave him a small smile.

"Let's do this, then," Jack said, picking up the headpiece that would go over Rose's head.

"I'll be right here for you when it's over, love," the Doctor assured her and pulled her into his arms. He kissed her fiercely before whispering, "My soulmate, my Rose."

"I love you, Doctor. My husband," she replied with a shaky smile.

Jack handed the headpiece to the Doctor, who placed it securely on her head where she sat. He didn't want her falling over from the pain, as she would if she were standing through the process. He couldn't touch her through it so decided to use the seatbelt on the jumpseat that they had never made use of before. He strapped her in place and squeezed her hands reassuringly before turning to connect a simple metal circlet to Jack's head.

"Last chance," the Doctor told Rose, trying to cover how frightened he was of what could go wrong.

"I'm starting to wonder if you really want this," Rose replied dryly. He could feel that she was starting to get a bit angry with him for his questioning her.

"Oh, I do, Love," he breathed out and Rose grinned at him.

"Then do it."

The Doctor's hands were shaking as they hovered over the controls, but after a moment, he found the courage to go through with it and started the sequence. He tried to keep himself focussed on the readings in front of him, despite the agonizing sounds of his wife screaming and crying behind him. He knew that she had nightmares about him going through this process before and now he realized the reality of being on the other side of the experience. He had thought that going through the pain was horrible, but listening to your soulmate screaming in agony and being unable to even touch them, was much worse.

He concentrated on the numbers in front of him and when her heart rate rose to dangerous levels, he started pulling some of the energy from Jack toward her. Jack flinched, but stayed silent as he watched Rose with wide, fearful eyes. There was a flash of golden light and her vital signs changed. His readings now showed the physical structures of a Time Lady on her second life, but without the Lindos and Artron energy needed for any future regenerations. Her two hearts were racing, but the Doctor could see that she was stabilizing and pulled back on taking any more energy from Jack.

The whole process only lasted a few minutes, but it felt like an eternity before the Arch shut itself down and released from Rose's head. She fell back against the seat and the Doctor rushed to release her from the belt restraining her. He sat next to her and wrapped her in his arms, stroking his fingers through her hair soothingly while his tears soaked through the shoulder of her shirt.

"Is she alright, Doctor?" Jack questioned worriedly.

"Medbay," he snapped and carried his wife out of the console room.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To be continued in the next story, "Forever, Found"


End file.
